


Living in a Rewrite of My Own Book World

by Screaming_at_an_Empty_Room



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action, BookWorld, Completed, F/M, Fantasy, Original Fiction, Romance, changingthefuture, transportedtoanewworld
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 07:32:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18545161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Screaming_at_an_Empty_Room/pseuds/Screaming_at_an_Empty_Room
Summary: This is the story about an author who gets hit by a car right before she can finish her bestselling book series. Trapped in the role of a terrible side character antagonist, she must find a way to change the story’s ending. Not just for her own survival, but for the characters that seem just a little too real to be fiction. (30K words)





	1. The Rewrite in which I’m a Crappy Side Character in my Own Book World.

_Just one chapter left._

It’s amazing what goes through your mind when you’re dying.

I had taken a break and gone to the nearest convenience store to buy a boatload of chocolate to celebrate writing the last chapter to the last installment of my book series. When I started to write this story of swords, magic, and court intrigue a couple years ago, I could have never dreamt that the books would get published and that they would actually be popular. Of course, that just meant for the last book of the series, the pressure was on to write a good ending. Even though most of the fan mail I got was surprisingly encouraging, I could sense the inpatient desire for the next and final book.

 _The ending better be worth it._  I could read the message clearly in between the lines. But despite multiple setbacks, a couple mini nervous breakdowns and one bad tequila binge that I hoped everyone would quickly forget, I had written the majority of the book. All I had left was to write the last chapter. Thus the purchasing of the celebratory chocolate, so I could party as soon as I was finished writing. 

Who would have thought I would get hit by a car on my way back from the store?

My first thought as darkness overcame me was for my book series. 

_I hadn’t finished the ending yet!_

My second was for all the wasted chocolate. 

_I never got to eat any!_

I woke up in a strange body, in a room I didn’t recognize.

I stared down at myself, surprised. I was wearing some sort of dress with an apron draped over it almost seemed like a uniform of some sort. Nothing like my usual jeans and a t-shirt. More shockingly, I seemed to have shrunk in height, but grown in… other dimensions.  Confused, I poked my own chest.  _Huh, seemed real enough._   _How did I go up 2 cup sizes overnight? If I could patent this method, I’d be rich!_ I slapped my face lightly.  _Focus!_

Running to a nearby mirror mounted on the wall, I stared at the reflection. A sharper, more refined face stared back at me, with black hair and green eyes that looked nothing like my own. I poked my face too.  _Ouch._ What the heck?! How did I turn into someone else?! 

Weirdly enough, I felt like I should recognize it…

“KATARINA!” A strident voice interrupted my perusal of my new face and body.  An older woman in a similar uniform to the one I was wearing walked in, shooting me a look of disgust. 

“I’ve told you before, stop being so slow in the mornings! Miss Autumn should be waking up any moment now! Why are you not in her room ready to serve her?!” 

Ignoring my open mouthed look of astonishment, she pulled me by the hand through the halls towards another room. I glanced around at the stone floors and walls, the intimidating decorations, only slightly surprised to see magical floating balls of light being used instead of lamps. 

_This all seemed so familiar._

We entered a beautiful room, luxuriously decorated in red and pink colors. A girl was tucked into the enormous canopy bed, sleeping. 

“Lady Autumn, it’s time to wake up.” The older woman beside me called gently, seemingly reluctant to disturb her. 

 _What the heck?!_ Was this the same woman who gave me the death glare and scolding just a few minutes back? Who was this sweet looking old lady? 

Shocked, I kept my mouth shut and my head down. 

The girl sat up in bed and looked up at us, excited. 

“Hooray, It’s finally my birthday!” She was a cute teenage girl, with bright eyes and a big smile. I couldn’t help but smile back. 

“Yes, Ma’am, today is the day the Prince’s messenger should arrive!” The older woman’s eyes were sparkling, but at her words the girl Autumn’s smile faded and was replaced with a nervous expression. 

“Gertia, am I really being considered as a marriage candidate for the Prince?” 

“Yes! Prince Coron has apparently heard of your beauty and social graces and personally approved you being listed as a candidate.” The woman (who I assumed was called Gertia, given how Autumn addressed her) was beside herself with excitement, but Autumn just sported a strained smile. Poor girl, she was obviously troubled at the idea of being mixed up with royalty and politics…

_Wait._

Autumn…. Gertia…. Prince Coron…. A world where magic lamps lit the hallways and noble girls slept in pink canopy beds…

THIS WAS MY BOOK!

Ugh, this was a little too much. My empty stomach revolted with the shock and I could taste bile in the back of my throat. 

“Katrina, are you okay? You look ill!” Autumn called out to me, concerned. I held my hand against my mouth, trying not to vomit. 

“She’s probably just trying to get out of work.” Gertia looked annoyed.  _Hey! What did I ever do to you to earn this kind of treatment? If I weren’t so sick I’d treat this old hag a lesson._

Careful to keep my complaints silent in my head, I waved a hand, muttering “Excuse me.” as I ran out. I ran randomly through the hallways, exiting the large mansion. There were people all around me, busy with different tasks. Over in the courtyard a large group of guards were performing sword drills, the young man in front of them practicing with a sword made of magical flames.  I kept running until I came to a pond just on the edge of the property, Swallowing nervously, I looked into my reflection in the water. 

_Yep, still not my face._

What was going on? Could it have been a coincidence that these people had the same names as my book characters? But the floating lights, the fire sword… that was real magic right? 

Lost in thought, I stared at my face on the water’s surface. I looked to be about 14 years old. If this was my book then was I a new character? Who was I supposed to be? I though back carefully. What was the name they had called me again?

Katrina.

_Oh._

_Oh no._

I sat down, cradling my head in my hands. 

 _Was this the Universe’s idea of a big joke?_ I groaned miserably. Katrina was a character in my story. The third daughter of a Baron, she had grown up a pampered noble girl, albeit a slightly poor one. But her family had decided to send her to serve as a lady’s maid to Autumn, who was the only child of the Duke of Terotta. Her parents had felt that Katrina’s marriage prospects were low, so even being part of the household to the future queen would have more benefits then wasting away at her home. None of that was the problem however. 

The problem was that Katrina was a terrible character. 

I knew it. I had written her to be that way after all. She was my trash character, the scheming girl behind all the minor plots and intrigue. She was lazy, arrogant, and not all too bright. She spent half the book series attempting and failing to seduce the crown prince, and the other half trying to trap and beat Autumn. Because she was more conceited than smart, I had had a lot of fun making her the butt of a lot of jokes, turning most of her plans against her. In the last book that I had been working on before I died, she had helped the villain kidnap Autumn. Of course the prince had saved the main character and the whole evil plot fell to pieces. When everything was resolved she was stripped of her title and executed. 

I groaned again. Why on earth was I, the author, in the role of the crappy side character instead of Autumn the protagonist? 

It was just too infuriating. 

It took a while for me to calm down, but eventually I did. After all, I had no idea why I was here, or how long I would be here. In the meantime though, I refused to play the role of the stupid, noble girl antagonist. 

_Take that, younger me who thought this kind of character was good writing!_

I thought about what I knew. Katrina had started working at the Duke of Terotta estates at around 14 years old. Given my appearance, I couldn’t be much older than that. I must have just started recently.

Perfect!

The next major plot point, when Autumn was declared the fiancé of Prince Coron and started royalty training, wouldn’t happen until her 16th birthday. She was 14 today, same as me, so that meant I had 2 years to transform this character from a useless arrogant brat into a capable side character! I chuckled to myself, thinking back on the plot points and how I could improve them. 

_Look out world, there’s a rewrite in the works!_


	2. The Rewrite in which I Become the Ultimate Overpowered Maid

I had multiple plans to improve Katrina’s character.

The first, and the easiest was her personality. I wasn’t very outgoing by nature, so keeping my head down and doing my work properly without mocking others or causing a scene was simple.

The first day after I had appeared in this world, I tried smiling and greeting everyone I worked with. The reaction was a little overdone, one butler literally backed away from me until he fell down a flight of stairs.  I had never really specified in the book how awful Katrina was in her day to day life, but considering the astonishment and relief shown by the other house staff members at my changed personality, she must have been dreadful to work with. Now that I wasn’t acting like an idiot bully, I naturally made friends with most of the people who worked there.

Second, I decided that if I was going to be a maid character, I wanted to be the super, cool type that could do anything. For that, I was going to need teachers, this turned out to be more difficult than I expected.

“Why?” Gertia, the head maid, stared at me with a stony face.

I took a deep breath to calm myself, it wouldn’t do to bite the hand that could feed. “I am sorry that I have been lazy and useless before now. I wish to learn everything I need to know to be the best lady’s maid.” I looked up at her, but if anything, her gaze became more stern than before.

“You’re not smart enough.”

_GRRR! I really want to punch her!_

Burying my inner monologue deep inside me, I summoned a calm, polite smile.

“Please judge me after giving me a chance.”

She seemed startled at my response, but in the end gave me a slow nod. “Very well. But if you waste my time, I’ll kick you out without hesitation.” Finally she smiled, “I should warn you, very few people have ever gained my approval.”

Despite my poor first impression, I couldn’t help but like her straightforward manner. I grinned at her. “Bring it on!”

She hadn’t been lying, what followed was the maid training course from hell. Etiquette, fashion, household management, every second of my free time was taken with learning what she had to offer. Despite her grim appearance, she was a good teacher, easily explaining even complex subjects, but she definitely didn’t hold back. The one time I had forgotten her lesson on cutlery placement will forever scar me.

I worked hard, and over time, she seemed to loosen up a bit. I swear I even caught her looking at my work with a half smile once. Of course, it might have just been a hallucination.

I branched out, learning from the chef how to cook, basic first aid from the local healer, different plants and poisons from the gardener. I never had enough time in the day, but as I continued to work hard, I started gaining a wide variety of useful skills.  

Once I got a grasp on the behind the scenes work of high society, I moved on to fighting skills. Thinking back to all the fight scenes that would have to survive once the plot got going, I would definitely need to know how to protect myself. Why had I wanted this to be an action packed story?

I approached the captain of the Duke’s personal guard, Alexander, a young man in his twenties with a serious expression, and asked to learn combat and weaponry. To his credit, he simply declined politely and didn’t laugh in my face. I didn’t give up though, I began the daily food campaign. Each day I brought the treats and snacks that I made for my cooking training, hoping to butter up the captain and his men. Although I was greeted with suspicion at first, the food was delicious, if I do say so myself, and soon the guards began to look forward to my visits. Of course, as they ate I made sure to talk up the benefits of having the lady’s maid being trained in combat.

“Think about it!” I explained once, waving around a cookie, “If Lady Autumn gets attacked in the bath or some other delicate place, then are you going to barge in and see her naked? Isn’t it better if I can help protect her?”

Alexander choked on his own cookie as I spoke, his face turning red.

“Umm, Miss Katrina,” One of his men spoke up with a grin, “You may want to phrase your arguments more… delicately. I think it’s a bit much for our poor innocent captain.”

“Shut up.” Alexander glared at his subordinate, who fell silent but kept smiling. He then turned to me with a thoughtful expression. “You really want to learn?”

I nodded my head excitedly, and let out a cheer when he sighed and nodded back.

“Fine.” He patted me on the back. “Run around the grounds five times.”

My smile fell. “Pardon?” The estate wasn’t small. That distance had to be at least a mile. I hated running.

“Fighting requires endurance.” His smile was grim. “Prove to me you’re serious, and I’ll teach you how to fight.”

“Deal!” I jumped up, and headed towards the grounds. As I ran I heard the cheers of the rest of the guards.

“Good luck, Miss Katrina!”

“You can do it!”

“Please don’t stop bringing us cookies even if the Captain bullies you!”

It was difficult. Painfully so. Katrina had done little in her life beyond gentle walks and lifting tea cups. Suddenly starting to run… needless to say I collapsed long before the 5th lap.

_Someone save me! I’m just an author, I want to nap!_

I knew if I wanted to learn how to fight, however, I would have to persevere. So pushing away the despair in my heart, I trudged onward and completed the course at a literal crawl.

The Captain watched me finish, giving me a solemn nod before walking away.

_Jerk! At least praise my hard work!_

Every day I ran. It took time, but eventually I could complete it without passing out, puking or crying. I reported this cheerfully to Alexander, but his poker face didn’t change, he simply doubled the distance. Finally I conquered even that, and he allowed me to begin training.

I learned hand-to-hand combat, and fighting with a dagger. When I had protested, seeing my dream of sword fighting disappearing into nothingness, he argued back that as a lady’s maid I would have to work with weapons I could keep concealed. Unable to refute his sound logic, I reluctantly agreed.

By the end of my two years of preparation, I was able to run quite a distance without becoming tired. I could quickly flip and subdue opponents that were even twice my size, and my knife throwing/fighting skills were at the level where I could hold my own against most of the Duke’s guards. One day, I arrived with my usual box of cookies to find the Captain and all the guards waiting patiently for me, excited looks on their faces.

“What’s going on?” I asked, looking at them one by one. “Did I miss a party or something?”

The guard closest to Alexander elbowed him. “Give it to her already, Captain!”

Alexander stepped forward, hesitant for the first time since I met him. He held out a plainly wrapped gift. “This is from all of us.

I opened it. It was a beautifully crafted blade, easily concealable and weighted appropriately for throwing. I held it up to look at it closely, startled. “Is this really for me?”

“You’ve worked really hard. If you had been a man, we would have just let you join the guard, but as it is…” He trailed off. “Good job.”

I smiled, tearing up a little. “Thank you so much!” Without thinking, I grabbed his hands with my own, shaking them.

Alexander’s eyes widened and he pulled his hands gently away before clearing his throat and staring off into the distance. Had I offended him? When I looked closer, however, I noticed his face and ears turning bright red with embarrassment. Briefly, I remembered that I wrote the Captain as a side character. He saves the protagonist Autumn from an attack in the second book, and as a result of that interaction develops a little bit of a crush on her. I had liked his character a lot, however, and not wanting him to waste his life pining after Autumn, I wrote for him to meet and marry a beautiful kind woman. Now, having met him in person, I was even more glad that he got his happy ending. Grinning, I patted him on the shoulder.

“Hang in there buddy; just a couple more years.”

“What was that?”

“Oh nothing.” I chuckled, thinking of the wonderful girl he would meet later on. I would have to make it to their wedding!

Within a blink of an eye, two years had passed. I had grown accustomed to living in this world, as well as my new persona as Katrina. I was no longer the spoiled arrogant woman who plotted against others. I had friends, I had skills, and if all else failed, thanks to Captain Alexander I could run away really fast and keep running for miles!

Autumn’s sixteenth birthday was tomorrow. The plot had arrived.

I was ready.


	3. The Rewrite in which I Meet the Character I Shamelessly Planned to Kill Off

It was Autumn’s 16th birthday.

I woke her up, dressed her, and styled her hair, just like a proper lady’s maid. All the while I kept up a running commentary, prepping her on who would be at the party. We would be surrounded by allies, enemies, and people on the sidelines, and Autumn needed to be aware of who could be charmed, who could be bought and who needed to be ignored. Fortunately after two years of Head Maid Gertia’s boot camp from hell, I knew exactly how to coach her. 

Autumn endured my lecturing without complaint. She really was a sweet girl, with a quiet temperament but strong morals. I thought she was adorable and felt inclined to protect her. I had felt similarly when I was writing her character. I thought the calm sweet way she approached things was fitting of the protagonist of my story, and made sure she would have a beautiful romance and a happy ending. Fortunately those feelings didn’t fade even after spending every day with her as her maid in this world. Now that I had skills and knowledge, I was even more determined to make sure her future was bright.

Once she was prepared, she walked down the stairs towards the ballroom, looking beautiful in her usual pink and red. I walked a few steps behind her, secretly patting myself on the back for doing a good job. After all, today was the day she was meeting her future husband, Prince Coron  and I wanted to make sure she knocked him dead! 

 The party was packed; all the nobility in the city seemed to be here to celebrate Autumn’s birthday. Hardly surprising, given her status as a favored marriage candidate to the crown prince. Dresses in all shapes and colors made the room look like a garden of dancing flowers, the smell of delicious foods and strange perfumes filled the air. I could feel Autumn’s excitement, this was her first big party. Sixteen was an important age for young noblewomen, this was her debut as the daughter of Duke Terotta. She would no longer be considered a child. She was old enough to inherit, be courted, and even get married. It was a big deal. 

Watching her bright eyes take in the room, I felt a slight twinge of regret for myself. As the daughter of a Baron, Katarina would have warranted a social debut 2 months ago, on her 16th birthday, but that had been sacrificed for the chance at social advancement for her family as she served as Autumn’s personal maid. Although it destroyed my own prospects of a good marriage, my connection to the household of Duke Terotta opened many doors for my family. Last I heard, both of my older sisters had married well, to titled, wealthy men.

I shook my head at the strange turn of my thoughts. After two years of living as Katarina, it became harder and harder to separate her from my own identity. Before this, it would have never occurred to me to be disappointed at losing a chance to have a social debut. This change in my personality was a little bit worrying, but in the end, I decided not to overthink it. The important task of avoiding becoming the trash side character who gets executed, while making sure little Autumn gets her happy ending, was before me. I could not waiver now. 

“Lady Autumn.” A quiet voice called out her name, and everyone stopped to stare as they saw who it was. 

“P-Prince Coron!” Autumn blushed a pretty pink color, nearly matching her gown. The Prince made a gentlemanly bow before her, taking her hand and kissing it gently. I studied him, curious to see how he would match up to my descriptions of him in my book. He was handsome, in a classic sort of way, with a gentle smile. He was a perfect, handsome prince, I supposed, but I couldn’t help but feel mildly disappointed. 

_Isn’t he a little boring?_

I mentally chided my younger self for writing him so straight-laced and perfect. Couldn’t I have at least given him a dark, tortured secret personality or something?

_Oh well.  As long as Autumn likes him, I’m sure it will be fine._

“Oh that reminds me, I brought you something.” The Prince turned to the tall, quiet man at his side. “James, you still have it with you?” 

The man smiled, the expression lighting up his unusually serious face. “Of course, Your Highness.” 

He handed him a small wrapped box. The Prince took it, saying, “Oh yes, before I forget, Lady Autumn, allow me to introduce my good friend, Duke Harrington.” 

I turned my attention to man as Autumn greeted him with a polite curtsey and a murmured “Your Grace.” He stood even taller than the prince, with dark hair and eyes that seemed always to be forming a serious expression. If I hadn’t seen that small smile when he spoke to the Prince earlier, I may have thought his face was stuck perpetually in a look of mild disapproval. 

Without a doubt this was James Harrington, a side character and my most shameful secret as an author. 

He was the best friend of the prince, and despite holding one of the most prestigious titles in the country, was neither arrogant or self centered. He constantly wanted to do the right thing, for his family, for his friends, and for his country. This sometimes led him down some dark paths in my stories, but he always was striving to help others, so he was very popular with the readers. His character did fall in love with the protagonist Autumn, but since she was engaged to his best friend, and they cared for each other, he never said anything, just silently supported them both from the sidelines. As the series was drawing to a close, however, more and more requests for an Autumn/James ending came pouring in. 

As an author, I did appreciate that they cared about my characters this much, but in the end I started getting annoyed. Why did so many people want me to change my course from Autumn’s dream of marrying her perfect prince and set her up with his friend instead? Were they kidding me? I could never do that to her! Or so I told myself was my reasoning. 

But deep down inside, only I knew the shameful truth:

I didn’t want to set them up, because I had developed a crush on my own character. This was my most embarrassing secret, both as an author and a person. Because of this, I felt extremely uncomfortable not only pairing him with my protagonist; I couldn’t even write him a happy ending like I did for Captain Alexander. 

Unfortunately, probably because of my unnatural interest in the man, he was an extremely complex, deep and likable character. This made the prince, who was the main love interest, seem… a little boring. As more and more fans of the James pairing appeared, I in my isolated room with no one else but my computer to keep me company, made a shameful decision:

I decided to kill him off in the last book. 

I figured it would dash their hopes for him to hook up with Autumn, while giving a darker, more meaningful weight to the ending. Never mind that I sobbed uncontrollably while writing the damned scene, now that I was standing in front of the man himself, I couldn’t help but feel mortified that I had chosen such a terrible way out of my internal conflict. 

I snuck a few glances at his face, too embarrassed to look for too long. He really was handsome.  _Ugh, this was awful._  Despite my excitement for getting to meet the character I had had a crush on for so long, I was worried about how this meeting would go. After all, his loyalty and protectiveness of his friends is what in fact made him the greatest enemy to a certain worthless side character who was always scheming to come between them. 

That’s right, poor stupid Katrina was the one that James hated the most. The character that of course I was now. 

I caught his eye during on of my brief glances, and felt my heart drop at the look of disdain as he met my gaze. 

_Oh great, he’s heard of me._

Old Katrina had developed quite the reputation as a flighty, arrogant girl, an incorrigible flirt. Now of course that I had been undergoing my two years of “operation overpowered maid character” development plan, I’m sure little has been done to correct my image. After all, it wasn’t like Miss Gertia or Captain Alexander was going to join in on the local gossip corner to tell people how hard working I was. I was just going to have to prove myself. 

“This is for you.” The Prince, completely oblivious to my internal conflict and silent screams of embarrassment, handed Autumn the wrapped box. 

Inside was a delicious looking chocolate truffle. “Oh how cute!” Autumn looked excited as she took out the treat. “It’s almost too pretty to eat!”

The Prince chuckled, “Please, try it, it will only go to waste otherwise. Besides, it’s your birthday!” 

Nodding happily, the girl lifted the treat towards her mouth. 

WAIT A MINUTE! WHAT WAS THAT SPRINKLED ON TOP?!

To my horror, as I looked closer, I could see peanut crumbles decorating the top of the elaborate chocolate truffle. Autumn was deathly allergic to peanuts! What was the prince thinking?!

I only had a moment to act, the dessert was almost in her mouth. Moving quickly, my hand pushed her arm, knocking the treat from her hand. It landed on the floor with a quiet thud, ruined. 

There was an awkward silence. 

“Oh no, how clumsy of me! What a terrible accident!” I had to say something. I didn’t want to embarrass the Prince or James in front of the crowd by telling him he almost killed his future wife. Autumn looked at me strangely, but when she glanced again at the truffle on the ground, she realized what I had done. Gratefulness filled her eyes and she opened her mouth to speak… only to stop as I shot her a warning glance to stay silent. It would not do for her to say something now. I would make sure to quietly inform the Prince’s party of her allergy at a later date to prevent this from happening in the future. 

I was feeling quite pleased with myself, until I heard a low angry voice speak up.

“It is indeed unfortunate.”  I glanced up, James was staring at me, but in a way that one would stare at an insect, or mud on your shoe. “Perhaps, if you are so clumsy, you might be better suited to less  _delicate_ work? I believe there may be job openings at the local stable shoveling out manure.” He spoke quietly, but in the silence of the room everyone hear him and laughed out loud. 

I tilted my head, staring at him. This all seemed oddly familiar. 

_Of course!_

I remembered a passage from my book, regarding Autumn’s 16th birthday party. The Prince had just given the protagonist a dessert, but jealous and angry, Katrina had intentionally knocked it to the floor. 

“Oh how clumsy of me!” she had laughed evilly, while she faked sympathy. If I remember correctly, the Duke had called her out similarly in the book as well. So despite all the changes I had made, apparently I had managed to act out the first scene of the plot anyways. 

In my heart I apologized to old Kristina, despite her ill intentions, it seems like she accidentally saved Autumn’s life in the book. (Although I don’t remember writing Autumn’s character to have a peanut allergy. I hadn’t given much thought to small details like food preferences or allergies when writing the original story).

The rest of the party passed uneventfully. Autumn had felt guilty and wanted to clear my name after everyone laughed at me, but I made her stay silent and carelessly shrugged off all the critical gazes in my direction. So what if they didn’t approve of me? They didn’t know that I was a secretly overpowered maid character now. I chuckled to myself, stopping quickly when I noticed a few concerned glances from Autumn and her family. 

After everything was over, I quickly made my way to the Prince’s carriages. My plan was to grab one of their maids to pass on a message about Autumn’s allergy, but to my surprise I found my way blocked by the one and only Duke James Harrington. 

Startled, I dropped a polite curtsy. “Your Grace.”

He stood in front of me, his arms crossed. The look of disgust still painted his features, making me feel a little irritated. 

“The Prince doesn’t want to be bothered by anyone, Miss Katrina.” He said my name like a curse. “So I bid you to move along.” 

I sighed quietly. “Of course I would never dream of bothering His Highness, or Your Grace for that matter. I am simply passing on a message from my mistress to one of the Prince’s servants, so if you don’t mind…” I tried to move past him, but the aggravating man simply shifted and continued blocking me. 

“What’s the message?”

I considered telling him, but looking at his face annoyed me too much and I refused to oblige him. Had I really had a crush on this character?  _What bad taste in men._

“I would hate to bother Your Grace with such a trivial matter.” I murmured, again trying to move around him. 

“Just stop embarrassing yourself already.” His voice was cold, his gaze even colder. “The Prince never has and never will care for power and money hungry girls, and you certainly don’t have any redeeming qualities that could induce him to overlook your terrible personality.” He was sneering now, looking over me in my oversized grey maid’s uniform as if unimpressed.  _What a jerk!_ I was about to lose it, but instead I closed my eyes, and counted to 5. Opening them, I gave him a calm, polite smile, enjoying the look of shock that flickered across his features. 

“I will keep your advice in mind, Your Grace, and I thank you for your concern. I do however, have three things I wish to convey to you this evening.”

I held up one finger. “First, taking rumors at face value is poor practice, and a foolish one at that. You should take the time to judge a person based off of their abilities, otherwise you may find that you make potential allies enemies.”

I held up a second finger “Second, not every girl that is near you or His Highness is ‘power and money hungry.’ You must meet these sorts of people regularly so I will forgive the assumption this time, but I will not extend such understanding a second time. Again, people are more complex than you realize, and if you don’t take the time to sort out friend from foe, then I pity our future king for having such a poor advisor.” 

Too furious to keep up the polite smile, I turned and started walking away. I had only made it a few steps before he called out to me. 

“W-wait. What was the third message?”

I stopped, but refused to turn around. I didn’t want to show him the expression on my face at that moment. 

“Lady Autumn is deathly allergic to peanuts. I beg His Highness and Your Grace to please refrain from trying to kill her again in the future.”

With that, I quickly walked back to the mansion, and this time he didn’t call out to stop me.


	4. The Rewrite in which I get an Apology from a Duke

The Prince announced shortly after the birthday party that Autumn was no longer a simple candidate, she was his official fiancé. The girl herself was of course overjoyed, and wandered the house in a daze the entire day after hearing the news. I trailed behind her with a smile, ensuring that she didn’t bump into anything and hurt herself. I was enjoying the peace and quiet while I could, since I knew that a big nuisance was headed our way. 

“Good morning, Miss Katrina.” The big nuisance said with a cheerful smile. I returned the expression with a polite curtsey. 

“Good morning, Your Grace.” 

He handed me a letter. “This is for Miss Autumn from Coron. It’s an apology for what happened at her birthday party, among other things.” He straightened up, looking me in the eye with a serious appearance. “He also wishes me to convey his deepest apologies to you, and to thank you for preventing him from accidentally killing his future wife.” 

I nodded, “I appreciate the sentiment, but it is unnecessary. I was simply doing my duty.” 

He looked at me with an odd expression for a few moments, but before the silence could start to feel awkward, I led him over to where Autumn was waiting. She was curious as to his presence here, and was concealing it poorly, but I had the benefit of being the author, so I had already expected his arrival. 

With her now being the future Queen, the Prince had dispatched his closest friend and most trusted advisor to train her in court etiquette and prepare her for the political battle she was about to be thrust into. Of course, that was not to be spread around. Officially he was there as a magic tutor. Duke Harrington was well known as a magical prodigy, and was keenly sought after by most for a few moments of training. Most people didn’t know that Autumn had no magical power; in fact, she was impervious to any form of magic. This rare magical canceling ability is what first attracted the Prince’s attention. She was a queen who could never be assassinated by Magic, or controlled to betray him. She had a natural advantage. So not needing any magical training, all of her focus could be devoted to preparing to live in the royal court. 

James explained all this to Autumn in detail, while I listened on. 

“Is that agreeable to you, Miss Autumn?” 

She looked briefly at me and when I nodded my approval she looked back at James and agreed. 

“Great.” He snapped his fingers and a stack of books appeared on the table between them. “Then let’s get started.”

“… Pardon?” I almost laughed at her expression of shock. It was obvious that Duke Harrington, although he could be called many things, a procrastinator was not one of them.

As they got started I went to the kitchen to prepare snacks. The chef, typically protective of his territory, simply smiled and waved me over. Years of studying cooking at his side had paid off. I made some quick desserts and headed back to Autumn and her new teacher. 

“But why do I have to stir my drink three times before every toast, that seems like such a useless rule!” I had only been gone a short time, but she was already frustrated. The Duke stared at her firmly. 

“Miss Autumn, although its true that many of the rules of royalty are useless and outdated, just as many are there for a reason.” He grinned, “The important things is to understand what the rules are and why they are there. Only then can you know which ones you can bend, which you can break, and which are absolute.”

She frowned. “Which category does to drink stirring rule fall into?”

“The absolute one.”

“That’s ridiculous, why?”

“Poison.” I set down the tray of desserts on the table between them, speaking briefly. 

Autumn looked stunned. “What do you mean, Katrina?” 

“As part of the royalty you will be provided with a special silver spoon. Stirring your drink with it is a quick test for poison. If the spoon blackens in color, you know the drink is not safe for consumption.”

James applauded politely. “Very good, Miss Katrina! There aren’t many who understand the purpose of a silver spoon.” 

I shrugged. “Of course, in the end it doesn’t matter. You can still be easily poisoned.”

His polite mask cracked just a little. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, if I wanted to poison someone royal, I would just use Territe root. 

“Territe isn’t poisonous.” He frowned at me, as if annoyed at the interruption. I handed him a tart from the tray. 

“No but if mixed with poison, can render it inert to silver.” I passed a tart to Autumn, who accepted it with a broad smile. She really was enjoying me arguing with him a little too much. 

“That’s… that actually could work.” The duke glared at me. “I feel like I should arrest you for the safety of the realm.” 

“If you’re nice enough, one day I’ll teach you how to counter it.”

“…”

Autumn broke in the uncomfortable silence. “This is delicious, Katrina! Your desserts are always the best!” 

James stopped mid chew for a moment, then carefully swallowed. “You made this?” 

Autumn answered for me. “She is an excellent cook. Chef often laments that Katrina refuses to be her successor to the kitchen.”

“It’s not that impressive, Lady Autumn.” I shook my head. 

“Even better,” she ignored me and kept talking with a mischievous grin, “There’s no peanuts on it.” 

“…”

“…” 

 _Ugh, Autumn, don’t look so pleased with yourself for making him uncomfortable._  I massaged my temples to decrease the headache that was starting to form. The Duke stood up, his face solemn. 

“Miss Autumn, I realize that you have already received His Highness’s apology in that letter, but I have not included my own.” He placed a hand over his heart and bowed solemnly. “I am sorry for our error that day.”

It was a beautiful apology, but Autumn simply stared at him with a severe expression. She did not look impressed. 

“It’s not me who needs the apology. Katrina saved my life and you repaid her by mocking her publically. Even then she didn’t expose you or even let me say anything to clear her, taking all the blame on herself.” Autumn looked angry, I hadn’t realized that had affected her so much. She really was such a sweet girl, I couldn’t help but smile thankfully at her. 

James looked uncomfortable, but turned to me and bowed as well. “I apologize for our error to you as well, Miss Katrina.” 

“I see.” Why was this apology so much less sincere sounding than the one he just gave to Autumn?  _Our error, huh?_  So he’s just going to forget all the horrible things he said both in public and once he found me in private? I shook my head. “Don’t mention it.”

It was not an acceptance of his apology, and we both knew it. His face spasmed briefly but he quickly locked a polite expression into place. 

“Why don’t you two finish the lesson?” I prodded gently. Once they got started I could disappear. I felt that the less time I spent around the Duke, the better.

“Sure, Katrina!” Autumn grinned at me. “After that I would appreciate it if you showed Duke Harrington around the estate.” 

What on earth was this girl thinking! I had wanted to escape. I opened my mouth, about to give some polite excuse, when the Duke spoke up first. 

“That would be wonderful, thank you Katrina.” He smiled at me, the expression lighting up his handsome face and despite myself I felt my heart skip a few beats.  _Stupid crush._  Well, so much for escaping.

“I would be honored, Your Grace.”

* * *

Later that afternoon, I took him around the mansion and the grounds. Fortunately, my explanations of what we were looking at and the inner workings behind them prevented us from having to make small talk. As we passed by one of the dining rooms, we were interrupted by the head butler. 

“Miss Katrina, there was an issue with the contract of the newest hire.” He handed me a paper to look over, not sparing a glance to the noble guest behind me. 

I looked it over. After two years by Gertia’s side training, she had started delegating more and more household tasks to me. This had unfortunately included household accounts and new hires. I made a few corrections to the paper in front of me, and handed it back to the head butler. 

“This should be more than satisfactory. If he doesn’t agree, tell him we’ll find someone else.”

“Thank you.”

Ignoring the Duke’s wide look of surprise, I moved on, taking him out to the gardens. 

“Miss Katrina!” This time it was the gardener. “The Rentril herb will be finally ready for harvest tomorrow evening. You were absolutely correct that the soil was too dry, they are growing heartily now.”

I smiled. “I’m glad to hear that, I’ll make sure to be present to help you harvest them.” 

“Thank you! Also, Healer Gale also wanted me to pass on that once you have the Rentril herb to stop by so you two can attempt to formulate that new antipyretic medication.”

“She’s really not wasting any time.” I nodded. “Tell her I look forward to working with her.”

“Will do! Here, you and your friend take some sweet fruit! I just picked some!” He tossed us a couple of bright red fruits. “Have a good day!”

I kept moving, the Duke followed closely, a strange expression on his face. 

“Miss Katrina, what is…” 

“Miss Katrina!” Whatever the Duke he was about to say was interrupted as we were surrounded by a group of guards. 

Seriously, even though this was normal for my daily life, it was a bit irritating to have interruptions one after the other when all I wanted to do was finish giving this stupid tour and pass off the Duke to someone else. 

I sighed loudly. “What do you need guys? I don’t have any cookies today.” 

One guard named Jorl stepped forward. “Miss, we wanted to thank you for the cake you sent over yesterday, and to make a request.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Yes?

“Please spar with us today! You haven’t been by training in over a week, and the Captain is starting to look sad and mope around.” 

“…” I stared open-mouthed at the guard. 

“Just who is sad and moping around, huh?” an angry voice interrupted my train of thought. We all looked over to see Captain Alexander, his face grim, standing there with his arms crossed. 

“Captain, don’t be sad, Miss Katrina will come spar with us today!” 

“Guys…”

Alexander looked torn between exploding with anger or dying of embarrassment. His face began to turn bright red. Feeling bad, I stepped in. 

“I’ll be happy to go a couple rounds with you guys, but first I have to finish showing this guest around the grounds. I promise I’ll be back shortly.”

Just as I was about to walk away, the Duke spoke up. 

“We don’t have to delay them. I actually would like to see you spar.” 

 _What was this idiot saying?_  I glared at him briefly but his polite mask was on at full force, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking. After a moment of consideration I nodded. 

“Sure, allow me to change and we can begin.”

I went into the guard house and changed into my practice clothes, I had long ago modified a guard uniform into a loosely fitting shirt and pants that covered me enough for this world’s standard of modesty while still allowing me freedom of movement. I would be nice if I could wear such clothes all the time, but unfortunately societal rules wouldn’t allow it. 

_Stupid younger me, next time write a world which I can wear pants in!_

As I walked out, picking up a blunted dagger from the practice rack, I could hear them talking in hushed tones. 

“What is she wearing?”

“Ah, yes, Miss Katrina designed it for sparring practice. You get used to it. We were all shocked in the beginning but we don’t even notice it anymore.” 

“Still… “

I broke in, idly spinning the blade on the palm of my hand. “My attire is not anyone’s concern but my own. For goodness sake it covers more than my usual dresses, but you guys act like I’m running around naked…”

“Jorl stepped forward, waving his arms. “Miss Katrina, you can’t say things like that around the Captain, he’ll get embarrassed!” 

“Shut. Up.” Alexander cradled his head in hands, but through his fingers I could see his ears were bright red. He was too cute. I was glad he only had a year before the love of his life showed up. 

I started to spar with the guards. The first to face off against me was Jorl, who was one of the stronger fighters. He used a practice sword while I kept my dagger. 

As we circled around each other, looking for an opening, I heard the Duke ask “Isn’t this a little unfair? His weapon far outreaches hers.”

Alexander answered him. “She insists on fighting this way. After all, if she ever must defend the mistress from harm, she likely will only have a short blade on her and will be fighting at a disadvantage.”

“But…”

“Don’t worry, she can handle it.”

Well now the pressure was on. I blocked out everything else and focused on my opponent. I slowly closed the distance between us, watching him closely for signs of an attack. He made a few feints, which I ignored, but finally started with a low strike towards my knees. 

His blade did have a longer reach, but I was a lot faster than him. I jumped up, stepping on the blade which drove it into the ground, and sprung towards Jorl while his weapon was out of commission. I kicked the side of his knee to destabilize him, and while he was off balance I threw him over my shoulder, using his weight against him. He landed with a loud thud on his back, and before he could recover my knife was on his throat. 

The rest of the guards cheered, while I helped Jorl back up to his feet and cheekily took a bow.

The Duke looked shocked. “That was amazing.”

“That was nothing.” Alexander grinned. “You should see her take on 3 opponents at the same time.” 

I fought a few more matches under different conditions, before begging off and changing back into my normal clothes. 

Before I left with the Duke, I patted Captain Alexander on the shoulder. 

“Only one year left, friend. Hang in there!” 

He stared at me shocked while I walked away. I chuckled to myself, thinking of how happy he was going to be soon. 

“What was that ‘one year’ about?” James asked. 

I was distracted and answered truthfully without thinking. “In a year he’ll meet the love of his life and get married. Then he can finally grow out of his silly infatuation with me.” 

“So you can see the future?”

I realized what I had just said. Coughing uncomfortably, I tried to cover my tracks. “No, just women’s intuition.” 

“I see.” He stared at me suspiciously, and obviously didn’t believe me, but thankfully he let it drop without further comment. 

I showed him a few more areas, with no further interruptions to my great relief, and then finally stopped near the front gates to the front gate. 

“Well that should be everything. I will show you back to the mansion.”

“Thank you for taking the time, it was… very educational.”

I flushed, “Sorry about all the interruptions.”

“No, don’t apologize.” He grinned, throwing me off balance. “It seems as though the rumors about you are completely unfounded. No wonder you found me so irritating at our first meeting.” 

Shaking my head, I quickly tried to correct him. “They weren’t unfounded. I was a willful child, arrogant and spoiled. It wasn’t until I was sent here 2 years ago that I came to my senses and started trying to make up for lost time.”

“Cooking, gardening, sparring, poisons, you seem to have done a lot for such a short period.”

I was a little taken aback by the compliment, but I couldn’t help but let out a satisfied smile. “All it requires is sufficient willpower and motivation. This much is the minimum that could be expected.”

“Is that really so?” His expression was complicated, his gaze steady on my face.  It was a little uncomfortable. I cleared my throat nervously, and tried to think of a topic to change the subject to. To my surprise, before I could, he spoke again. 

“It seems like I have really mishandled this whole situation.” He sighed softly, before straightening before me and performing a formal bow. “Allow me to apologize sincerely for my actions. I am sorry that I took rumors about your character at face value, and treated you poorly. I am sorry for my public words of admonishment, when all you had done was protect your mistress, not to mention myself and the prince.” 

He straightened up, looking me directly in the eye. My heart rate increased a bit, but I kept my face expressionless. “But most of all, I am sorry for my arrogant words when I insulted you after the party. I assume you came to kindly inform the Prince’s servants about his error, to quietly settle the matter, and instead you had to deal with my idiocy once more.” 

“It’s al…” I was touched, and started to accept his apology, when he interrupted.

“It’s not alright. Please, Miss Katrina, I owe you a favor. What can I do to make this matter up to you?” 

I thought about it carefully. A favor from a Duke was not a small thing. It might be worthwhile to hold on to it. The more I thought about it, however, the less that idea appealed to me. He was a good person, I didn’t want him to feel indebted. Coming to my own answer, I smiled and replied with confidence.

“Teach me magic.”


	5. The Rewrite in which I Learn Magic from the Duke.

The Duke stared at me in confusion. It was understandable, I suppose. Magic was a rare talent, one that showed up rarely even among the nobility, much less so among the common people. For a servant to have magic talent would be extremely unlikely. I saw his mind working, and he must have remembered that I came from a noble family, although only a Baron, for he asked me quietly. 

“You underwent aptitude testing?” 

Every noble child in the world underwent aptitude testing. It was a simple test, the child simple placed their hands on a crystal sphere, and if they had any talent for magic, globes of light would appear around them. The number of globes was an indication of their magical power. Among people who did have magical talent, 1-2 orbs was considered average. The prince had 6 orbs appear when he tested, the Duke currently held the record at 10 orbs. When Autumn had attempted, her magic nullifying ability had destroyed the orb. 

I nodded. “Yes I underwent testing.” Well, I hadn’t, but Katrina had before I took over.

He looked confused. “How many orbs?” 

“Only five.” I shrugged casually, enjoying the expression of shock on his face. 

“Did you say five?” His eyes bulged a bit. “How in the world weren’t you sent to the academy for training?”

“My family could only afford to send one child to the academy. My brother, the heir, produced 2 orbs. The education was deemed more useful to him.”

This was a sore point, one that I had written intentionally when designing Katrina. She was born noble, had great magical ability, but was forced to be a servant to someone else. Thus her arrogance and determination to take down the protagonist. She always felt she was better than Autumn, and couldn’t stand being looked down on. 

The Duke didn’t let it go, “But still, with that kind of ability…”

“Ability matters little if no one values it enough to nurture it with training.” I shrugged again, “It was considered more valuable as the third daughter to be here as a lady’s maid, to make connections that would benefit my family.”

He looked upset. “They sacrificed you, for their own gain.”

“Yes, they did.”

“Why aren’t you angry?”

I met his disturbed gaze with my own calm one. “Why should I be? This is the world we live in. My role was to be sacrificed to benefit others, yes, but I am alive, safe and well fed. The fact that I can be such is dependent on the sacrifices of many others.” I stepped closer, wanting to convey this clearly. “No kingdom can be safe without sacrifice. Many will give their lives and well being so that we can live in peace. If they are willing to give up so much for me, what right do I have to complain about the little that is expected of me?”

“B-but…”

I smiled, patting his shoulder. ”You will have to make many hard decisions in the future, as His Highness’s advisor. You will make sacrifices, and ask others to make sacrifices in your stead. It will not be easy. It will not be kind or considerate. Sacrifice is painful. But it is also necessary. The important thing is that you face this honestly, and work hard so that we can continue this time of peace. If you cannot do this, I suggest you get out while you still can, and leave your position to someone who can do so with a clear conscience.”

Once I finished, he stared at me silently, the quiet stretching out for an uncomfortable amount of time. 

“Somehow … I think you are an amazing person.” 

I smiled. “Thanks. Your Grace isn’t bad either.”

He sighed. “You might as well call me James, at least in private. After all, I’m going to be your teacher from now on.” His grin was deadly. I had to look away to calm my heart. 

“Be warned, I’ve been considered to be a strict and merciless teacher.”

I looked back at him, and took his outstretched hand to shake. 

“I’m counting on it… Thank you, James.”

He didn’t waste any time. Taking me back out to the field, he distanced himself a good ways away and started explaining. 

“What we call magic is a energy that can be borrowed and refined through the filter of one’s mind. Meaning that, the clearer your mental picture is, the better your result will be.” He chuckled, “Of course, there is also the limitation of how much power you can draw on to use, but as that is directly related to your aptitude, you should have plenty for most purposes.”

He held up a hand, and a flame appeared on his palm. “Magic can be divided into two major types. First is external, in which magic creates a physical phenomenon within the world.”

He held up his hand and the flame shot straight at my face. 

I screamed, and ducked, trying to avoid being burnt. But the flames simply passed straight through me without harm. Slowly I looked back up at James, who was grinning. “Second is internal, which affects the mind with no physical manifestation, such as an illusion of fire.” 

The flame on his palm extinguished and he stepped closer. “Keep in mind that most will specialize in one area or the other, but no matter what you use, your own natural energy will be depleted each time, as it is used to draw and store magical energy.”

I didn’t answer, still crouched down on the ground. Concerned, he came within ten feet of me. Close enough.

“Are you alr…”

Thunk! Thunk! 

Two of my hidden knives flew out, striking a tree behind him, flying by  on either side of his head. He fell down to the ground, startled. Finally, I let out the laugh I had been holding in. 

“Sorry, did I frighten you?” My grin was a bit vicious. He stared at me in shock for a few moments, and then laughed himself. 

“I guess I deserved that, after the fire trick.” He took the knives out of the tree and handed them back to me. “That was a bit dangerous, though! What would you have done if you missed?”

I took them back and fluttered my eyelashes. “Your Grace should rest assured.” I stepped a little closer, enjoying when his eyes widened nervously. “I never miss.” 

“I feel like you’re threatening me.” 

I shrugged. “Oh don’t worry, if I ever choose to threaten you, you’ll know.”

I left it at that. I felt better, now that I had made my point: He may be above me in talent, station and magical knowledge, but I wasn’t going to be a pushover either.

Over the next year I made good progress. Between his talent for teaching and my natural aptitude for magic, we were able to quickly push through all the beginner type work. I only had aptitude for internal magic, so most of my studies focused on illusion crafting. James, Autumn and I quickly settled into a routine. He and I would wake up early, and go over the lesson/goals for my magic training for the day. After I had woken up, dressed and fed Autumn, she would begin her lessons to help prepare her to be Queen. I would sit quietly off to the side, reading books on magical theory or practicing spells in the corner. I would have to stay far enough away that her magic cancelling constitution didn’t affect my spell casting. Occasionally I would listen in on her lessons and give my own opinion to her lessons. 

“It’s not that simple.” I broke in one day as he was explaining the motivations of a local noble Marquis Petrosa. 

James paused at my interruption. “Why would you say that? They are marrying off their youngest daughter to the Viscount Beterin to solidify their control of the nearby port. With their abundance of wool products and a port to ship them from, they’ll be able to expand their influence greatly.” He ran his hand through his hair, a habit I had noticed he did whenever he got irritated. Mostly when talking to me.

I smiled. “If that was their only goal, then why not ally themselves with Earl of Tentra? He has a son the same age, with multiple ports under their control. It would be much more advantageous.”

He thought that over. “Perhaps the Earl would not consider a match with a marquis’ daughter?”

“No, both families submitted a request to form an engagement.” I grinned. “They could have picked either family, but chose the one with less power and money, why?” 

Autumn tried, “Is it to cater to the daughter’s preferences? Perhaps she likes the Viscount better?” 

“Very close, but the truth is a little messier. The daughter indeed likes the Viscount a great deal. Enough to sneak out to meet him in the middle of the night.” I laughed,  “Now the family is desperately trying to get the marriage done before people who can count months start getting suspicious.” 

A shocked silence fell on the room. 

James broke first. “How could possibly you know all that?!” He threw his hands up in frustration. 

“Never underestimate the power of servant gossip.” I couldn’t hide my satisfied smirk, but felt I should drive my point home. “Real life isn’t pretty, Autumn. People make plans and schemes, but all that can easily fall to nothing due to a decision made in the heat of the moment.” I patted her on the shoulder. “The key is to make your plans, but always leave room for human error.”

James chuckled quietly. “This comes from the person that rumors say is lazy, stupid and arrogant.” 

“My reputation is useful, make sure you don’t tarnish it with any words to the contrary.”

Autumn pouted. “Only you would care if we spread word that you were actually capable. You’re so frustrating!” 

“Agreed.” James chimed in as well.

“You two are being silly. Now get back to work, I’ll go make you some food.” I stood up to leave, but was stopped by a hand on my arm. 

“Wait, before you go you must demonstrate that you understand the third variation of the ignition illusion spell.” He was back in ‘teacher’ mode. I hesitated a moment, glancing at his hand which was still in contact with me. Casual touching wasn’t really looked well upon in this culture, but it seemed that lately every time I turned around he has some reason to hold my hand or pat my shoulder. It was a bit disconcerting; especially as I had not been successful in ridding myself of the stupid crush I had on him. 

_He’s going to fall in love with Autumn._

That’s the story I wrote. Despite knowing the course of things, it still hurt a bit to consider him looking at her in that way. Of course, I wasn’t going to let this story play out exactly; I planned to change the ending. There’s no way I was letting him get killed off in the end. Even if it did change everything and he ended up with her in the end, if he was safe, it would be worth it. 

I realized I had stood there too long. Awkwardly I raised a hand a quickly summoned the image of a flame over my palm. Despite looking like a real flame, being an illusion it generated no heat, and didn’t burn me. I focused and changed the shape into a spiral. Once I thought I had the form stabilized, I looked back at James to see if he approved.

He was smiling, a broad grin ear to ear. The shock of the expression hit me suddenly, I felt like someone punched me in the gut. I sucked in a breath unconsciously, fighting to maintain a neutral expression. “You never fail to amaze, Katrina, but you should add more energy to the sides, it will flow better.” He put his other hand out and grasped my wrist in his hand, flowing magical energy through the contact. Startled, I lost control and the illusionary flame shot up towards the ceiling.  Fortunately it wasn’t real, or I might have set the house on fire. I felt drained of energy, the large pull from the sudden increase in the spell almost too much for me to bear.  

I shook my head and pulled away from his hand, trying to slow my heartbeat. “I’ll keep working on it, thanks.” 

I fled to the kitchen, conscious of his gaze on my back until I safely rounded the corner and was out of sight. 

Spending so much time with him was a bad idea. My feelings were way past something that could be described as a “crush” at this point. I sighed, wondering if it would be worth it to stop magical training. The skills would be useful, especially as conflict starts to escalate in the story soon. It would be foolish to let my feelings get in the way of protecting everyone. At least he only would be here for another few months. 

With another loud sigh, I headed towards the kitchen to vent my feelings into something productive.


	6. The Rewrite in which I Become a Double Agent for the Prince

It had already been over a year since Autumn had been named the Prince’s future wife. In a couple of days we would be heading out to the Capitol so that they could conduct their official courtship under the judging eyes of the nobility. I laid in my bed, staring up at the ceiling, thinking through all the possibilities. 

_Ugh, it’s all too tiring._

The only benefit I had was knowing the future thanks to my all powerful author knowledge. Of course, I had already changed part of the story by changing Katrina’s character, but judging by what happened at Autumn’s birthday party, there was a concern that no matter what I did, the main plot would continue along the predicted pathway. If this were the book, Katrina would be planning to contact the Duchess Savalle, who was the second cousin of the current king. She hated Autumn almost as much as book Katrina did, and when the foolish servant girl offered to team up, the Duchess had no qualms about using her to attack the protagonist relentlessly. 

My eyes closed slowly as weariness overtook me. Now of course I had no plans to contact the Duchess; that woman was scary (I should know, I designed her that way)! However, I was sure even without me getting involved she would find another scapegoat and the plot would continue as planned. 

Yep, everything would proceed just as expected.

That was when a large hand clapped down on my mouth. 

ARGH!

I instinctively struck out and heard a muffled cry as what felt like a nose crumpled under my fist. Desperately I grabbed an attacker’s hand and twisted it, feeling and hearing the bone crack with a sense of savage satisfaction. Another attacker grabbed my arm and pulled it behind my back. I responded by kicking him in the crotch. I freed myself, cursing my lack of weapons. I promised myself from that night forward, I would sleep with at least a knife at all times. 

Just as I was jumping up and looking for my knives however, I felt the prick of a needle at my neck. My consciousness faded, but before darkness overcame me, I obsessed over a single unwavering thought: 

_This hadn’t happened in the book!_

I woke up in a cold room, shivering. I didn’t recognize my surroundings, but quickly clued into a few important details:

First, I was tied up. My hands and feet were bound with black cords that seemed unnatural. On closer inspection it was clear they were physical type magic restraints. Being specialized in internal magic, there was little I could do against a spell like this. 

Second, I was not alone. About fifteen men stood against the walls, dressed up as bandits. I recognized a few that had attacked me in my room before I was knocked out. I thought back to how I had broken the first assailant’s nose and wrist and smiled happily to myself. 

_Well, even if they kill me, at least I made it painful for them._

It was a grim thought, but considering how far the plot had gone off course, I had no advantages anymore. I wished I had kept to the main plot better. At least then I would know where I was. 

“Miss Katrina, I’m so happy you could join us.” A cool feminine voice called out, startling me. I looked up to see an older woman in a noble dress, wearing a black silk mask over the top half of her face. Despite her attempt at disguise, with her dark red hair and grey eyes, plus given the threatening situation I found myself in, it was easy to guess whose clutches I had fallen into: 

Duchess Savalle. 

In the book she was a scheming noblewoman, who plotted against the Prince and Autumn to secure the throne for her son, William Savalle. Katrina teams up with her, foolishly thinking that her only goal is to get rid of Autumn, but instead is used and cast aside by the Duchess. But why had she kidnapped me? Obviously I needed to play it cool. 

“Who are you?” I tried to sound frightened. It was less fake than I wanted it to be.

“My name is not your concern. For now, you may consider me an ally.” She paused dramatically, as if expecting a reaction. Not wanting to piss her off, I nodded. 

“I will help you dispose of that awful girl who sank her claws into the beloved Prince.” She smiled at me, but it seemed more like she was baring her teeth. “Then when he is free of her influence, I will help you win his heart over like you’ve always dreamt of.”

“…”

_Pardon? Since when have I dreamt of winning the prince’s heart? I mean he’s good looking of course, but he doesn’t hold a candle to James… oh yeah, she’s thinking of old Katrina._

I had forgotten that since I refused to correct my image to the outside world, those outside of our household all still viewed me as a brash, foolish girl who coveted the prince.  _Ugh._ Even though it was embarrassing, I decided to go along with it. I widened my eyes, fluttered my eyelashes, and pitched my voice a little higher into my best “stupid noble girl” impression.

“Really? You’ll help me get rid of that witch?” I pouted, cringing internally. “That horrible woman must have put a spell on him! Otherwise how else would the handsome and wonderful Prince Coron choose a woman like her?! Especially when a beauty like me is walking about! He didn’t even look at me last time! It’s all her fault!” With that last screech I ended, pretending to look put out. I was worried my performance might have been a touch overdone, but when I glanced at the Duchess she seemed fairly convinced.  _Thank goodness for my bad reputation._

The woman in front of me smiled. “Good, then we have a deal. I want you to spy on the girl, report her every movement. When the time is right to act, I will send you further instructions.”

I nodded in agreement. “As long as it helps me destroy that fake woman, then I’ll do it.”

“Excellent.” She chuckled, an ominous sound. 

“Umm… so can I go back now? I don’t want them to miss me and suspect something.” 

At my words she seemed to glance off to the side as if looking for permission. Who would she be looking at though? Her husband was dead, her only family was her son William, the benefactor of all her schemes.

William was actually the final boss type villain in my series, but I kept him in the shadows until the very last book. I had received some criticism for not introducing him sooner, but I didn’t want to risk his mysterious atmosphere. But since he didn’t appear until late, I shouldn’t have to worry about seeing him… 

“One moment.” 

_Well crap._

A young man stepped out, a villain from head to toe in his dark clothes, black mask and sinister aura. His long dark hair was pulled back, and his dark eyes were not as distinctive in the dim light of the torches in the room as they would be in the sunlight. Still, his gaze seemed to pierce through me, as if he already knew everything I was hiding, and found it amusing. I felt myself break out in a cold sweat and my heartbeat rose with each step closer he took. 

Finally he stopped just inches away, bound at my hands and feet, all I could do was kneel, despite my embarrassment and rage I found myself trapped in that position before him. I stared resolutely at the ground, refusing to meet his gaze. There was breath after breath of overwhelming silence. 

“You hurt some of my men.” It was not a question. His voice was so cold it was painful to hear. Focusing on my words so as not to freeze with fear, I answered calmly.

“That much injury is to be expected when you break into a girl’s room without an invitation.”

I worried I had made a mistake in answering too forcefully. That wasn’t quite the line that they would expect from my character. Hopefully they wouldn’t notice! After a few more moments of silence, I felt an ice cold hand grip my chin, forcing me to look up. His eyes behind his mask captured mine and held my gaze, unconsciously I shivered with fear. He looked at me the way a scientist looks at a rat in a maze. 

“Interesting.”

Without another word he turned and walked away. Freed, I collapsed to the ground and hugged my chest tightly. This was not in the book. Things had changed. 

I was scared.

They returned me home, promising to contact me soon with a plan. I waited a few minutes, making sure they had left the building before getting up and heading towards the rooms where James and his group were staying. Not wanting to get mistaken for an intruder, I cast a quick internal message spell. A small,white light passed from my hand, flying towards his room. I had imbued it with a simple message which he would hear once the light came in contact with him:

“We need to talk. I’m on my way.”

By the time I arrived he was awake, albeit a bit ruffled and bleary eyed. His expression was concerned and I noticed he had strapped his sword on. 

“Katrina! Are you okay? What’s wrong?” 

He walked around me quickly, as if assessing for injuries, and let out a loud sigh of relief as he found me relatively intact. 

“I’ve just been hired by the Duchess of Savalle to be a spy.” 

“…” James stared at me in shock, before slowly responding “Perhaps… you should start at the beginning.”

I told him what happened from the kidnapping to meeting the duchess. 

When I mentioned being drugged, he stepped forward, reached out and gently turned my head to the side. I felt the light touch of his finger over the bruise on my neck where the needle had been inserted. My brain quickly overloaded from the contact and how near he was. I shivered and pulled back a little. He continued to stare at the spot, his face dark. His normal calm atmosphere had disappeared, in its place was an aura of rage and barely restrained violence. I looked in his eyes and felt my gaze shy away. For a moment I didn’t recognize him and it scared me. 

I put my hand on James’ arm, forcing him to look me back in the eyes. 

“Hey, I’m fine. I made it out in one piece, so don’t look like that.”

His eyes held mine, his expression unreadable.

“Look like what?” He asked softly.

“Like you’re going to kill someone.” 

“Tell me the rest.”

I uneasily noticed that he didn’t deny anything, but continued with my story anyways. James raised an eyebrow at the name of Duchess Savalle. 

“She showed her face?” 

“No, but it was fairly obvious given her overall appearance, demeanor and motivation.” He nodded at that, convinced. 

I hesitated once I reached the portion about William. Again I felt the light touch of his hand on my face. 

“He frightened you?”

I nodded slowly. “There’s something very wrong about him. I can’t describe it well.”

Shuddering, I hugged myself tightly and looked away. “I would really like to avoid seeing him again.” 

“I would be happy if that were the case.”

“Well on the bright side, we now have an inside source on the main competition. If they try to do anything to His Highness or Autumn, I should be in a position to interfere.” I smiled, trying to dispel the gloomy atmosphere.

He didn’t smile back. “Maybe this is too dangerous.”

“It’s fine, they think I’m an idiot anyways. I’ll be careful.” 

He didn’t look convinced but I wished him goodnight and headed back before he had a chance to argue. Hopefully he would take the time alone to cool off.

It wasn’t until a couple weeks later when I heard rumors of a group of men dressed as bandits being massacred by an unknown magician that I regretted leaving him alone. 

 


	7. The Rewrite in which I Foil a Poisoning Plot

Things did not go as planned when we arrived in the Capital. To be fair, my expectations were based off of the book plot. In the story, the protagonist met a lot of resistance among the nobility, who were jealous of her favored status with the prince. Katrina of course, worked furiously behind the scenes to make friends with anyone who disliked Autumn and fan the flames as much as possible. This meant it was my time to shine, when I could masquerade as the worthless antagonist side character while protecting sweet little Autumn from anyone who would go against her.

At least, that’s how it was supposed to happen. 

 Everything went wrong right from the start. I had prepared extensively for our arrival. We were to act out the scene from the book, where Katrina tripped Autumn on her way out of the carriage. Autumn would be unhurt but embarrassed, while Katrina would be securely placed within the “anti-Autumn” faction. She and I had spent forever planning, down to padding her knees underneath her gown so she wouldn’t be hurt. We even practiced a few times at home. As our carriage pulled in front of the castle, we both grinned at each other in anticipation. A crowd had gathered to greet the Prince’s fiancé. But just as Autumn had opened the door, stepping out and I was reaching out to push her…

“KATRINA!” 

 Hearing my name called out by a familiar voice, I hesitated just a moment too long. Autumn stepped out safely onto the pathway just as my momentum tipped me over the edge.

THUMP!

I hit the ground face first. As I laid there in shock, trying to figure out what went wrong, the culprit caught up to me. 

“Katrina! Are you okay?” James knelt down beside me, reaching out to help me back to my feet. 

“Umm, I’m fine. Thanks.” I gently tried to pull my hand from his grasp, feeling slightly put out when he instead tucked it into the crook of his arm and shot me a bright grin.

_What the heck happened to the stoic, restrained character he used to be?! I described him as “someone who rarely smiles” right? So what’s with the casual touching and the thousand-watt grin?_

Seemingly unaware or possible just unconcerned with my distress, James led me away by the hand towards the castle, speaking excitedly. 

“So I developed a new variation of the communication spell, I’ve been looking forward to being able to test it out.”

As he pulled me along I caught a glimpse of the faces on the crowd. Anger. Disbelief. Jealousy. The Duke Harrington casually chatting with a lady’s maid. I was done for. I sighed as we moved, crying a bit on the inside. These were the people I was supposed to win over! Now in one fell swoop I had been alienated from all the allies I was supposed to be making.

_This isn’t how the book is supposed to go!_

 Since then I found myself ostracized by noblewomen and servants alike. Words like “upstart,” “aims above her station” and “ugly” were often muttered around me. Fortunately my tormentors were obviously still stuck at a middle school level: my belongings were hidden, dirty water was poured onto my bed, I was tripped frequently while out in public. This kind of petty resistance I could easily ignore with a smile. For once I was grateful that I had written Katrina to be the ringleader of tormentors, it seems without someone to focus them, the noblewomen’s spiteful games were pretty weak.

The Duke did not make it any easier, however. From calling me by my first name, to continuing his inexplicable new habit of casual contact, to simply appearing wherever Autumn and I happened to be, his constant presence created troublesome rumors. With each rumor I made even more enemies that would spill ink on my skirt or put worms in my shoes. 

This was all the more confusing due to my author inside knowledge. This was right around the time in the story that he had completely fallen for Autumn, but because he didn’t want to come between her and his best friend the prince, he treated her coldly while protecting her from a distance. Instead he was polite, friendly even, towards her. All the while making my life more and more difficult. 

Wasn’t he worried that Autumn would hear rumors that he was interested in me? Or was his whole goal in spending time with me diverting suspicion while able to watch over his true love from close by? That was a depressing thought, and honestly, I obsessed about this possibility way too much.

I didn’t have long to worry about it however, as Autumn’s first public appearance as the Prince’s fiancé was fast approaching. Since this was where Katrina and Duchess Savalle first worked together against the protagonist, I figured I would be hearing from her people soon enough. Sure enough, two nights before the party I awoke to a strange masked person standing in my room. 

“Umm… Hi?” 

Ignoring my awkward greeting, the figure held out a hand towards me. I initially flinched away, half expecting some attack, but instead in his hand was a necklace. 

“A present? You shouldn’t have.” Unfortunately my scared personality default was super sarcastic. 

“It is not for you, foolish woman! It is a trap for the fiancé.” His angry words brought me back to what I should be doing. I was supposed to be playing an idiot brat! Thank goodness this bad guy doesn’t get sarcasm! 

“I know that!” I stuck my nose up in the air, doing my best “haughty rich girl” impression. “I was simply testing you! Yeah! Testing to see if you were good enough to work with a beautiful and intelligent woman like me!” I forced myself to laugh arrogantly, while surreptitiously checking to see if the masked intruder bought it. 

“Quiet, idiot!” Looks like he bought it. Whew. 

“Take this necklace. Make sure the girl wears it to the party in two days.” 

I delicately grasped the beautiful silver necklace with one hand. “What…What does it do?” Of course I already knew, but one has to keep up appearances. 

The henchman grinned, “When in contact with the victim’s skin for over an hour, it causes fevers, sweating, flushing, and vomiting.” 

“But what if they suspect me, won’t it be obvious since I put the necklace on her?”  I frowned, pretending to pout. 

“Why would they suspect the necklace? Think about it! If she’s vomiting, the first thing they will suspect is that there is poison in her food!” The masked man leaned forward, excited. “This has the dual benefit of humiliating her with being publicly sick, as well as bringing the party to a terrible end.” 

“That’s great!” I stood up, clapping my hands with feigned excitement. “I’ll definitely make sure she wears it to the party! Just leave it to me!” 

He stepped closer, towering over me with a threatening presence. “See that you do not fail.” 

He didn’t have to tell me what would happen. His presence made it very clear what kind of consequences I would face. I backed away, not having to fake the nervousness from the threat. At my face he laughed quietly, and disappeared out of my window into the night.

Of course, now that I had the necklace, there was no way I’d let the plot go as planned!

On the day of the party, I was preparing Autumn for her appearance, finishing off her hair and makeup. She looked adorable in her pink formal gown with golden trim, although the styling making her appear older and more mature. I went all out, trying to make sure she wouldn’t be ashamed to even stand before the queen. The other maids who were employees of the castle stood nearby, oohing and ahhing as I put the last finishing touches on. 

“There!” I put down the brush, satisfied. “Now all that’s left is your jewelry.” 

I went to the table and opened a delicately carved wooden box. From it I lifted the poisoned necklace. 

“This was specially prepared for you my lady. It will definitely make you so lovely that the prince won’t be able to keep his eyes off of you!”

As I moved to place it around her neck, however, she raised a hand, stopping me. 

“Oh dear, this won’t do. Katrina, this is a silver necklace, it clashes with the gold trim of my gown. Get me my mother’s gold chain instead.”

There was an awkward pause, ending with me clearing my throat and trying to argue. “But Lady Autumn, it is in style to have both gold and silver present in your attire! In fact, it is considered to be lucky, especially for young women who are in love.” I raised my eyebrows suggestively, my tone wheedling. 

She turned away, seemingly uninterested. “No. I want my mother’s necklace. Instead, I think you should wear this necklace; it goes nicely with your dress.”

My eyes widened in panic, I shook my head rapidly. “Oh no! I could never wear something that belongs to my lady! That would be improper!”

I glanced surreptitiously at the castle maids standing nearby. Sure enough, one of them looked pale and shocked. Internally I smiled. 

Looks like I was right, Duchess Savalle did have another spy.

_Good. After all, what use was an act without a proper audience?_

I tried to place the necklace away but Autumn stopped me. 

“I insist that you wear it! Consider it a gift!” 

She smiled sweetly at me. I made a sickly expression, looking around nervously before reluctantly clasping the necklace around my own neck. With her golden chain in place, we left her rooms and headed towards the party. I kept my face carefully showing dismay and anger, while smiling on the inside.

Of course, both Autumn and I were carrying antidotes. Although I planned to have their plan backfire in an impressive public fashion, I had no desire to harm myself. Just enough for “Katrina” to get her public humiliation, Savalle to be thwarted and Autumn to be safe, just like in the book.

As we walked I noticed Autumn getting more and more excited. She glanced over at me, and, seeing my expression, felt the need to explain. 

“I haven’t seen Prince Coron in quite some time.” Her face blushed prettily with her words. I was happy for her, after all, she did end up with him in the end, but I could help but shake my head regretfully. “Poor James.” I muttered under my breath. He really was to be pitied for liking his friend’s fiancé. 

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Autumn glance at me with an amused expression. She shook her head and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like “Poor Duke Harrington.” I was surprised. Had she realized his feelings herself? 

We entered the grand ballroom, and immediately became the center of attention. Most of the stares were sizing up Autumn, but I detected quite a few hostile glares in my direction. I sighed silently, and blamed James in my heart again for being too friendly. Who knew that having my crush be close to me would be so problematic? 

_Speak of the Devil…_

I spotted him across the room and once we made eye contact, his face lit up with a bright smile. Internally I scolded him for being too obvious about being excited to see us, but I kept a calm polite mask in place. He bowed politely before Autumn, grasping her hand lightly and bending his head over his head over it. To my surprise I noticed he forwent actually kissing it. Then he turned towards me.

“Katrina.” He said my name warmly, a complete contrast to his cool politeness just moments before. He bowed before me as well, reaching out for my hand to clasp in his own large warm one. It caught me off guard but I used to opportunity to pass him a third vial of the antidote, just in case. The glass container was trapped between our hands, but he didn’t take it right away. Instead, he bent his head down and gently pressed his lips to the back of my hand. I was shocked that my heart didn’t explode, it was beating so fast. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. 

As he straightened up with a wry grin, he whispered softly. “An antidote? What an interesting present. Who’s being poisoned?”

Released from his hand, I returned his grin and quickly winked, enjoying the startled look on his face. 

“It’s me.” 

I waved goodbye, escaping before he could object too much. 

Autumn mingled with the crowd, and I quietly trailed behind her. I could feel the poison start to take effect. I focused on my breathing, trying to delay the inevitable. Bile rose to the back of my throat, but I swallowed it down. My body broke out in a cold sweat and I felt flushed and lightheaded. Out of the corner of my eye I saw James watching me with a concerned expression. I waved a hand, trying to indicate that I was all right, but it was probably not very convincing as I collapsed to my knees, vomiting. 

Startled screams rang out, the crowd backing away to stare at a safe distance. Autumn knelt down beside me, a hand on my back. Someone in the crowd shouted, “Poison! The food isn’t safe!”

Even through my vomiting I had to suppress a smile. It seems like the duchess had already planned for someone to try to rile up the crowd to ensure the party was ruined. Too bad for them we came prepared. 

Autumn stood back up, addressing the room. “Do not worry! My maid servant has not touched any of the food at the party. She must just be ill. I will help her to a quiet room, we will clean up this mess, and the party can continue outside in the garden. “

She played her part well, appearing calm and in control. As she helped me stand and led me away, they were already filing out towards the garden, many hadn’t even put down their plates of food. As we entered a secluded sitting room away from the crowds, I immediately removed the necklace, placing it in a bag and drank the antidote in one gulp. 

“Ugh, that was a little more painful than I was expecting.” I clutched my aching stomach and sat on a couch. I kept my eyes closed and breathed through my nose, waiting for the antidote to work. I could hear Autumn close the door, isolating us from the rest of the party, and then move around room. She placed a cool, wet handkerchief on my forehead, and I opened my eyes and smiled with gratitude. 

“At least the necklace only has poison, and no magical curses. They must know about your magic cancelling constitution.”

Autumn sat next to me, frowning.

“I still don’t see why you had to wear the necklace. Couldn’t we have just played off me refusing it and ruined their plan that way?”

I shook my head. “No, because then they would suspect that I’m not loyal to them. But this way, they have to belief that I wasn’t planning this.” I grinned. “After all, no one in their right mind would poison themselves, right? This way, their plan is messed up but it looks like it was out of my control. Hopefully they’ll still trust me in the future so I can be a part of their dastardly plans.” 

“But what if this isn’t the entirety of their plan?” She was worried, which was understandable, as she didn’t have my author advantage. 

“No, I’m pretty sure we’re good.” 

I barely had time to get the sentence out before the door slammed open and several masked assassins burst into the room weapons raised. 

_Crap. The plot changed again._

I jumped to my feet, a little woozy despite the antidote. I retrieved my knife from my sleeve and threw it at the closest one, and he went down with a strangled scream as it buried itself to the hilt in his throat. My heart pounding, I ran forward towards the next assassin, dropping to the ground and sliding by him. As I passed, I took out another blade and stabbed it into his foot. He howled with pain and fury, bending over and he drew closer I grabbed his collar, pulling him to the ground beside me. Before he could react further I slit his throat, warm blood running down my hands. 

_One left._

He stared at me in horror, shocked at seeing his two companions fall in the space of two breaths. He turned towards the door, and I panicked, realizing that if he got away, my cover would be completely blown. I focused my mind, raising a hand and channeling my power just as James taught me. An illusion of flames sprung up, separating the assassin from the door, and as soon as he hesitated, I struck. I grabbed a nearby vase and broke it over his head. He staggered, bleeding from the wound I made on his scalp, and I brought his face down on my knee. His nose broke with a crack and as he fell to the ground, I fished out a third knife from its strap on my leg and stabbed him in the chest. 

Finally the room was silent. I sat down on the floor, my hands trembling. Grabbing a handkerchief out of my pocket, I tried to wipe my hands off, although it only seemed to smear the blood around more. A coppery smell hit me, and I again fought the urge to throw up. It was then that I truly realized it:

_This isn’t a book. This is real. I’ve just killed three people._

I felt light headed, and backed away as far as I could from the corpses on the ground. My back against the wall, I felt a scream building up in my chest as I furiously scrubbed my hands clean. 

“Katrina?” 

The door opened, and James walked in, his face pale as he took in the grisly scene before him. Without hesitation he rushed to my side, grabbing my shoulders and looking me over for injuries. “Are you hurt?”

I shook my head silently, and he let out a long, relieved sigh. “Thank god.” He pulled me in and hugged me. Folded into to his arms, I felt something within me relax and tears began to run down. I buried my face against his chest, my shoulders shaking with a few silent sobs. He didn’t say anything, just held me closely. A hesitant hand slowly stroked my head, smoothing my hair back, and I felt a warm glow within. A part of me wished to stay like this longer, but the situation needed to be dealt with. I pulled myself together and leaned back, putting some distance between us. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I made the effort to keep my face and voice calm. 

“Can you tell everyone that you did this?”

James seemed startled at my question. “Why? No one will blame you for their deaths, you just saved the prince’s fiancé!”

I shook my head. “That’s the problem. People can’t know that I’m capable of this. Duchess Savalle’s group thinks I’m incompetent and that I hate Autumn. How would I explain this? We’ll lose our only contact with them. Then how am I supposed to protect Autumn?”

“Why is that your responsibility?” James demanded, throwing up his hands with frustration. “Let someone else shoulder the burden! Poisoning yourself? What were you thinking? What if you had been too sick to defend yourself? Both you and Autumn could be dead!” He was angry, but I didn’t back down. 

“This is necessary for things to work out in the end. A little sacrifice on my part is nothing in the grand scheme of things.”

“How can you know that?” 

I couldn’t explain. How on earth could I justify my actions? Sighing, I firmly answered “Please trust me.”

He didn’t like it. “But…”

“Please.” 

Silence. 

A long sigh escaped him. “What do you want me to do?” He finally answered. 

“Tell them you saved Autumn. Tell them…” I hesitated. “Tell them I was a coward and hid in the corner. Pretend to be disgusted with me.” 

His eyes narrowed. “No.”

“Please. Also try to avoid me for the time being. That will make it more likely for them to approach. I just need to get them to stick their necks out a little bit more, and I can hand them to you on a silver platter.” 

Considering it, he still looked put out but finally slowly nodded his head. “Fine. If that’s what you want.”

_What I want?_

_What I want is for you to be safe. I want to stay in touch with the villains because in the original plot I wrote, as part of their plan, you die. But most of all I want you to always stay by my side._

I gave him a sad smile. “What I want isn’t important.”

James played his part, announcing to the whole party that he had single handedly taken out the assassins. He then complained loudly about my cowardly actions, advising Autumn to find a better, more loyal attendant. I pretended to pout off to the side, and although I would never admit it, having him speak about me like this was actually rather uncomfortable. 

It worked like a charm, no one doubted for a moment that I was just a bystander. Once James started to avoid me, the harassment and anger I had been facing on a daily basis slowly faded away. My days were easier, but deep down I felt off kilter. I didn’t want to go back to being ostracized but having the Duke keep away and no longer seeing him on a daily basis was lonelier than I would have thought. 

I could only hope it would be worth it, and that Duchess Savalle’s people would contact me soon.


	8. The Rewrite in which I Regret Making my Villains so Scary

It didn’t take too long for Duchess Savalle’s men to grab me again. I was brought before the arrogant woman, fighting off a sad sense of deja vu as she stared down her nose at me. 

“You ruined everything, you stupid girl.” She snapped at me as soon as I arrived. “Why in the world would you wear the poisoned necklace instead of giving it that pretender?”

_So that’s how we’re going to play it, huh?_

I went into full spoiled brat mode. 

“Are you kidding me?! It’s all your fault for coming up with such a stupid plan! Why would she accept a cheap necklace from her maid?” I stomped my feet and produced a couple crocodile tears. “It’s your fault she made me wear it! I threw up in front of the prince! He probably thinks I’m disgusting. Now I’ll never be queen!”

My voice ended on a shrill scream which caused her to wince. 

“Not to mention you didn’t tell me you were sending assassins! What if they had killed me too instead of just that girl?! They didn’t even do anything before the duke killed them off.” 

I crossed my arms, making a dissatisfied sound. “Then he had the gall to be mad just because I was hiding behind the couch. Like I’m going to risk my neck to protect that witch.” 

“…”

There was silence in the room as everyone seemed stunned at the ferocity of my rant.

“I… see.” Duchess Savalle finally spoke, studying me closely. “Maybe you can still be useful. Does that woman suspect you at all?” 

I snorted derisively “Not even a little.”

“Very well. We will contact you soon.” 

They sent me back to my room, outwardly fuming but internally jumping for joy. 

_Hooray for getting back on track with the plot!_

Hopefully now I would better be able to predict the future once again and work towards an even better ending than the original.  

Things moved quickly after that. I faithfully reported Autumn’s every move to the Duchess and played the good little minion. After much discussion, Autumn and I allowed a few of the less harmful plots to go off without issue. I spread a few rumors, made her late to meetings and parties, stained the back of her gown. These were silly little things meant to wear down her reputation with the nobility, but overall benign in the grand scheme of things. With this, I was hoping they would start trusting me more, helping me stay in the loop when they made their big move.

Months passed like this. Time seemed to be racing. We were getting closer and closer to the finale. Each day I nervously went over the plot in my head, trying to trace out all of the possibilities. Everything hinged on the night of the Prince’s birthday. 

In my book, the prince has an elegant party to celebrate his birthday. Autumn and Coron connect while dancing and grow closer. James, on the other hand, dances only once with her, and is cold and distant the entire time, trying desperately to hide his feelings for her. Katrina, as punishment for all her schemes and tricks is not allowed to attend the party at all, and is furious, of course. She pretends to repent and brews Autumn a cup of tea before bed. Autumn drinks it and is knocked out from the drug Katrina mixed in. Unconscious, Autumn is  kidnapped and brought to an abandoned mansion where she’ll meet William Savalle, the true villain behind the scenes. His mother being a simple figurehead, he reveals his terrifying true nature and his plan to take over the kingdom. 

This was the plot, and the true reason behind me trying to keep the story on track all this time. If I could push them to the same plan as the book, I could prevent it. And I had to prevent Autumn being kidnapped at all costs. Because if James goes to rescue her… it was too terrifying of a possibility to consider. 

I was not going to allow that kind of ending. 

As the day of the party approached, I was intercepted by the Duchess’s men and given the knockout drug. I was told only to serve it to Autumn after the party. I sighed, almost crying with relief as I held conclusive proof in my hands that I had successfully kept the story on the same route. Now I could break the ending with my own hands and save everyone. I made preparations with Autumn’s family guards, set my own traps and rehearsed every step in my head with each free moment. 

I was ready. 

On the day itself, however, I was thrown a curveball, from an unexpected source. 

“Katrina.” Autumn held my hands, looking unusually serious. “I want you to promise me one favor.” 

“First tell me what it is.” I looked at her suspiciously, but couldn’t see any ill intent in her expression. 

She pouted. “No. You owe me a favor.”

“Since when?” 

“Since you made me walked around with a dress with a huge stain on the back for a full day, so you could convince people you hated me!” 

She had a point. I nodded. “Ok, I owe you a favor. What would you like me to do?” I was nervous; hopefully it was something I could do tomorrow. I really didn’t want to be distracted tonight of all nights. 

“Come to the party with me.” 

Huh? 

I stared at her in confusion for a few moments. “The party? Tonight?” I thought it over. “I already arranged for you to have Lydia and Sercy as your servants for the party. I might have to clear it with the Prince’s security to change things up.” It wasn’t impossible, but my head hurt just considering the logistics of it. 

Autumn held up a hand. “No, no, you’re misunderstanding me! I want you to come with me to the party… as my friend.” 

Again she shocked me into silence. I sorted out my thoughts. “But… I can’t…”

“You can.” She interrupted smoothly. “Even though you are my servant, you are technically the daughter of a Baron, which more then qualifies you to attend with an invitation. I spoke with the Prince and Duke Harrington, and they have arranged for you to be invited as an official guest.” She reached out and grabbed my hands, squeezing them tightly. 

“Please. It’s all been arranged.” I continued frowning, and seeing I was not convinced, she continued. “You’ve worked really hard to protect us, but you never do anything for yourself. Please come? You owe me and you agreed to do me a favor, you know!” 

I had to laugh at her determined expression. “All right, all right already! I give up! I’ll go to the silly party.” 

After considering it, I had already convinced Savalle’s group to trust me to drug her. The Duchess shouldn’t be at the party, as she and her son were waiting at the rendezvous point to greet Autumn after her kidnapping. So even if someone suspected that Autumn and I were on better terms, it shouldn’t change their overall plan, right? I wasn’t sure if it made sense, or if I was just trying to convince myself that it made sense, but in the end I felt confident in my decision. 

“Hooray!” Autumn danced around, cheering, and I couldn’t help but smile too. “Let’s get ready, we don’t have much time.”

I paused, embarrassed. “Actually, this may not be a good idea.”

“What? You promised!”

“It’s not that… I don’t really have anything appropriate to wear.” I looked at Autumn slim figure. “And I definitely won’t fit in anything you have.”

She made a disgruntled face. “Stop bragging.” 

“I’m not!”

“Well fortunately, I came prepared.” She ran to her closet and pulled out a midnight blue gown with silver trim. “Try this on!” 

Her excitement was infectious. I quickly tried on the gown, surprised at how well it fit me. “How did you guess my size?”

Autumn looked pleased with herself. “I sent one of your old gowns with the order, they used those measurements.” She hesitated. “Honestly I told them to tighten it up a little bit. Your normal gowns kind of hang on you.” 

I ignored that last comment and gave her a quick hug. “It’s beautiful, thank you.”

She grinned in response, “What are friends for?” 

“But wasn’t this expensive?” I thought it was a reasonable question, but for some reason Autumn looked very uncomfortable. She cleared her throat and avoided eye contact, her cheeks stained pink. “I can assure you it did not cost me very much  _at all_.” 

She was acting too weird. “You bought this dress right? How much did it cost you?” Now I was being rude, but why the awkward look? 

She glanced around frantically. 

“Oh look at the time! I have to go get changed myself! See you soon!” With that, she raced back into her closet, as if avoiding the question. 

_Weird._

I wanted to pursue it, but, not wanting to seem ungrateful for the invitation and the gift, I decided to drop it. 

I looked at my reflection in the mirror, and the girl in the beautiful dress smiled back at me. I was excited, I couldn’t help it, even with worries about what would happen later tonight lurking in the back of my mind. I didn’t feel too bad about it though. After all, how often does a girl get to go to a royal birthday party?  

We entered the party together, taking the scenery in. It was being held in a grand ballroom, one that would have held two or three times the dimensions of my apartment from my world. Golden magical lights hung in the air, casting a warm glow over the entire party. Everywhere I looked there were people dressed up in their finest, chatting, laughing, flirting, a beautiful harmony of colors and sound. We made our way in further, and immediately Prince Coron made his way up to us. 

“Autumn! Miss Katrina! Welcome!” His smile brightened up the air around him, making it impossible not to smile back. I could see why Autumn liked him so much. We curtsied politely and wished him a happy birthday. He was slightly embarrassed but seemed pleased. Seeing myself quickly heading in the direction of becoming a third wheel, I suggested that the Prince and Autumn dance together. 

“Wouldn’t that be rude to the guests you have greeted yet?” Autumn looked around, concerned. I was slightly glad she retained all the knowledge of etiquette that James and I had drilled into her head, but for now, I wanted her to have fun.  I gave her a light push in Coron’s direction.

“You two are engaged, no one would dare complain about a few dances. Take your time without worrying.” I winked at Coron who gave me a thumbs up behind Autumn’s back. Slightly dazed, she let herself be led onto the dance floor, and soon it was apparent that they were in their own little world. I took in their bright happy faces, glad for them, but slightly jealous. 

_Jealous…_

That’s right, I was so busy making sure those two had a good time, I completely forgot that a certain Duke would be sad at seeing the girl he liked dancing with someone else! I looked around the room, but didn’t see him anywhere.  _Strange._ Shrugging to myself, I made my way close to the wall out of the way of the other partygoers. I wasn’t really hoping to spend my one and only royal bash as a wallflower, but given my current reputation among the nobility, I doubted anyone would be foolish enough to be my dance partner tonight. I forced myself to relax and enjoyed looking at the different groups of people. Fortunately, people watching was a good pastime for me. I soon fell deep into my own thoughts as I watched my surroundings, losing track of time. 

Just as I was starting to get bored. I noticed a figure in black making its way determinedly towards me. I was the only one in this corner, so there was no doubt that they were headed towards me. My heart beat a little faster despite my earlier resolution to enjoy the wallflower existence. Maybe I would get a chance to dance after all. Just as the newcomer was about to reach me, however, someone large stepped in between us and offered a hand. 

“May I have this dance?” 

Startled, I looked up into a familiar pair of eyes. 

It was James. He looked more solemn than usual, his gaze serious without that hint of warmth I had grown accustomed to, but despite his less than enthusiastic appearance, his hand offered towards me did not waver in the slightest. I knew I should probably stay away from him until I was sure the bad ending was behind us, but I realized if I had really wanted to not see him, I shouldn’t have agreed to even come to this party. Deep down, I had known I would get a chance to meet him face to face if I came, and that was just one more reason I couldn’t say no. 

I took his hand firmly, my gaze politely pointed towards the floor. “I would be honored, Your Grace.” 

Several months ago he would have corrected me, insisted I call him “James.” Now, he simply nodded, and led me out onto the dance floor. 

It hurt. I knew it was because I asked him to keep his distance. I knew I had decided to do this so that I could save him. I knew it was only temporary. But still, my heart ached at the coldness in his eyes. It had only been a few months, but I was dismayed to find out just how much I missed him. Missed talking with him, cracking jokes, learning about magic and arguing about nothing. I worried that I might have gone too far, and even once this was all over he would never be so kind again. 

_It’s for the best. He loves someone else. Better to give up while you still have some heart left to salvage._

We danced to the lovely music, our hands meeting with only the minimum amount of pressure to maintain the connection. We both were silent, lost in our own thoughts. I stared at the wall behind him. A glance at his face made it clear he wasn’t looking at me either. 

It felt stiff, unnatural uncomfortable even. We avoided one another even while dancing in each other’s arms. It must have looked incredibly awkward to anyone watching from the sidelines. 

Despite all this, a part of me wished the song would never end. 

But all things end eventually, and as we made to part, a small glowing orb passed from his hand to mine, absorbing into my skin. A communication spell?

BE CAREFUL.  
Two words, nothing more. I looked up into his eyes, startled. His expression was calm, but something burned behind the polite façade. 

He was afraid. 

“Excuse me, Miss Katrina?” The voice came from just behind me, interrupting my racing thoughts. The tone was oddly familiar, it lingered on my name in a way that made the hairs on my arm stand up. “May I have the next dance?” 

Something felt off, I turned to reject the offer politely, but my voice trailed off as I stared up at an attractive face that was unfortunately all too recognizable. 

William Savalle. 

_What was he doing here?! He was supposed to be at the abandoned mansion, waiting for Autumn to be kidnapped, right? I never wrote him at the party!_

_The plot had changed again._

Before I could think through the ramifications of this terrifying concept, William had taken my silence for consent and pulled me further into the crowd of dancing couples, away from James who stayed in place, quietly watching us leave. 

“I’m happy you came to the party tonight.” His voice was just above a whisper, almost too quiet to be heard over the noise of the party. His dark eyes watched me intensely, as if to capture every miniscule expression of my face. I felt trapped, like a mouse in front of a snake. I kept my expression neutral and polite, using all my willpower to not show my fear. 

“Why is that, my lord?” 

He grinned, but it wasn’t a pleasant expression. It felt like he was baring his teeth. “We’ve been long overdue for a talk. You’ve been pulling the strings behind the scenes almost as much as I have.” He leaned forward, close to my ear. “And when two people as powerful as us are playing the same game, don’t you think it’s only polite that we introduce ourselves before we get too far?”

I widened my eyes, trying to look confused and foolish. “What ever do you mean, my lord? Behind the scenes? Pulling strings?” I shook my head. “You must have confused me with someone else. I’m not powerful. I’m just a servant.” 

His laughter was a harsh sound, causing shivers down my spine. 

“I love your mask.”

I tried to pull away, but his hand tightened on mine in a cruel grip, his hand on my waist pulling me closer than polite society would consider proper. I couldn’t move away, only closer. I stopped struggling, worried about what he would do next if I continued to fight him. 

“I don’t understand, I’m not wearing a mask.” I tried to keep my tone light, but there was a harsh undercurrent of nervousness I couldn’t entirely conceal. 

“Oh that’s quite the lie you’ve just told. You wear many masks, but only one truly interests me.” His smile widened. “Not this polite mask you’re currently using to hide your emotions. Or even your foolish noble girl mask that you use to fool the court and my mother.”

What was he talking about? I studied him carefully, thinking over his character in the book and his actions in different scenes. He had always been clever, hiding in the shadows until the situation was in his favor to move. It was very odd for him to confront someone so openly. 

_What was going on with the plot?_

My thoughts were interrupted as he increased the pressure of his grip on my waist, his fingers digging painfully into my skin through the fabric of my clothes. His face showed a satisfied expression as he continued talking. 

“Ah that’s the one I mean. That look that you are somehow separate from all of us, above us. That you know more than you are willing to share. You may have deceived that girl, as well as that fool of a prince and his pet duke, but I can see you clearly and can say one thing for certain:” He paused dramatically, seeming to be enjoying the nervous look in my eyes. “You are not Katrina.”

 _Don’t react! Don’t react! He’s looking for a reaction!_  I screamed internally, but my face stayed calm. A mild look of annoyance showed briefly on his face, but it quickly smoothed out to a normal sociable expression. 

“I met Katrina before, you see, back when we were young. She was a fool, a coward and a selfish being at the core. You may have convinced everyone else, but no one can change that much. You’re an entirely different person who simply looks like that foolish girl.”

“…” I kept my mouth shut, there was nothing to say.

“Oh don’t worry, I’m not going to give away your secrets. That would be too boring.” He leaned forward once more “But I for one can’t wait to see what will happen when your mask falls to pieces around you.”

The song ended, he let go of my hand, but it quickly brushed against my cheek. His fingers were cold against my face. His eyes were almost glowing with an obsessive inner light as he studied my expression. 

“What kind of face will you make then, I wonder, when I tear away all of your masks, and you have nothing left to hide behind.” He pulled me even closer, whispering in my ear. “It is going to be so interesting. I hope you don’t disappoint me.”

I wrenched myself from his grasp. This time he let me go, a wide smile on his face. I couldn’t risk being close enough for him to grab for the next song. I backed away quickly, before turning and running from the party. I knew it was impolite, that others were staring at my sprinting form, but it didn’t change my direction or speed. I had to get away from him. Pure terror drove me forward. I made my way through the winding halls until I was locked safely in my room. I bent over to catch my breath, my mind spinning. 

He knew the truth, or at least suspected. 

I was lost, with no way to predict what would happen. All of my hard work for the past few months to prevent the ending, ruined in the space of a single dance. I remembered his burning gaze and satisfied smile and shuddered quietly. 

_What was I going to do now?_


	9. The Rewrite in which I Halfway Successfully Predict a Kidnapping

It took a little bit of time, but eventually I pulled myself together. No matter how the plot changed, or how terrified I was, I could not let Autumn get kidnapped tonight. That was the only path I refused to go down. All I could do was trust in my preparations. 

I got changed, leaving the blue ball gown behind and changing into my black sparring clothes. I tied my hair back and wrapped my hands to protect my fists. Poisons went in one pocket, antidotes in another. I strapped knives to my arms, waist and legs. Feeling better now that I was armed head to toe, I went in search of Captain Alexander. 

When Autumn and I had first come to the capital, he and a group of the guards I frequently sparred with all volunteered to follow us and arrange for security. Although not thrilled about losing the captain of his guard, Autumn’s father agreed that in the end, his daughter’s safety took first priority. I was thrilled to have a team that I was already close to, and as the dreaded night that I had worried about for so long approached, we had met multiple times to plan out how best to protect her. 

“Tonight’s the night.” I smiled at the Captain as I entered the room, trying to lessen the tension somewhat.

He took in my outfit and multiple weapons and sighed quietly. “Any chance I can convince you to stay in Lady Autumn’s room tonight and let us handle protecting both of you?” 

He really was a kind man, but his concern was wasted on me. I shook my head, ignoring his disappointed expression at my refusal. We spent some time going over patrol schedules and guard placements. Alexander had done his job well, there was someone I trusted at every major path to Autumn’s room at all time. It would be nearly impossible for any intruder to reach her. I thanked him, but before I could go check on my other preparations, there was one last thing.

“Did you get the thing I asked for?”

He frowned, pulling out a small red vial with an attached strap. “The container has been made to your specifications. I’m afraid to ask what this liquid is that you had me place in here, or where you got it from.”

I took the vial from him, strapping it to my wrist. “Thank you for this. It’s better that you know as little as possible about the contents.”

“Can you at least tell me what it is for?”

I placed a hand over the container, focusing my magic. An illusion hid the vial from sight, leaving only the appearance of bare skin. Thanks to my training with hands over the last year, this illusion spell should remain in place for twelve hours unless I consciously removed it or I ran out of magical energy. I hoped I wouldn’t need it at all. I considered Alexander’s question, staring off at the wall my mind already filled with considering all the terrible possibilities. 

“It’s my last resort, for the worst case scenario.”

With that I left and went to check on Autumn. As I entered the room, she raced towards me, eyes wide. She grabbed me by the shoulders, nervously questioning me. 

“Are you okay? Why did you run away from the party?”

“…” it was kind of hard to easily explain. 

Autumn leaned forward, whispering. “Did Duke Harrington say something to you?!”

She stepped back, muttering to herself. It was difficult to completely understand her but I caught the words “idiot” and “make him regret…” I laughed and gave her a hug. 

“Duke Harrington was a perfect gentleman. I left the party for a completely different reason.” 

“He really didn’t say anything at all to you?” She stared at me in disbelief. 

I briefly thought about his communication spell which warned me to be careful, but that didn’t seem to be what she was looking for. I shook my head. “No.”

She was muttering under her breath again: “Coward, you… cry tears of regret…I’ll… with a dull knife.”

I hoped I was just hearing stuff out of context. Just in case I decided 

“Tonight was the night I was supposed to drug you. I assume they will try to kidnap you.” I helped her pack some items. “You’re going to stay in a different room tonight. All the possible entryways will be heavily guarded, I’ll also set traps around.”  I patted her on the shoulder. “So I don’t want you to worry. I’ll make sure you’re safe.” 

Autumn didn’t look reassured “What about you?” 

I shrugged, “I’m going to be camping out in your usual room in case they show up. If we can catch them in the act of trying to kidnap the prince’s fiancé, all the better.”

“That doesn’t sound very safe for you! Is someone going to be there to help you? I can talk to the Duke…”

“Don’t bother him.” I interrupted, “I’ll be fine. Trust me.” 

She still appeared nervous, but I refused to back down. Even in the worst case scenario and Autumn was kidnapped, I wanted him involved as little as possible. If it came down to it, I would rescue her myself. 

I settled Autumn into her new room, setting traps at the windows and doorway. After carefully instructing her on how to disarm them in case she needed to escape the room, I headed out. Captain Alexzander’s men were already in place.

I settled into her old room, hiding myself in the dark corner of the room with a small illusion spell. Again, I was glad I had sent Autumn away, her magic cancelling constitution would have made it impossible to magically hide myself. Sighing with relief as I felt the spell take hold, I relaxed with my back against the wall. Now all I could do was wait. 

I felt nervous, on edge, but I forced myself to remain still. The ending I had written myself what seemed a lifetime ago, played endlessly in the back of my mind, taunting me. 

In the book, Autumn was successfully kidnapped. They demanded ransom but Savalle’s true goal was to lure the Prince nearby where he had set a trap. Once he had him where he wanted him, Savalle planned to make his true demand- the throne for her life. Unfortunately James intercepted the ransom message and went by himself. After defeating countless numbers of Savalle’s henchmen, he sacrificed himself to kill Savalle and save Autumn. It was my worst nightmare. All I could hope is that by protecting Autumn, I could prevent him from meeting his end tonight. 

I would not accept such an ending. I would destroy it with my own two hands. And if all else failed, and the plot continued on course despite my efforts… well, I had a back up plan for that too. 

Hours passed, but anxiety kept me awake. Each shadow taunted me, I saw assassins in every corner. I gripped my knife in my hand, so tightly my fingertips were numb. 

I kept waiting. 

Just as I was about to shift positions, a small globe of light moved towards me. A communication spell? I rewatched out to touch it, and heard a calm male voice in my head: 

“Meet me in the garden, it’s a matter of life and death.”

_What was going on?_

I made my way over quickly, my mind racing with all the possibilities. Had something happened to Autumn? Was he ok? He said it was a matter of life and death, so whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. 

As I entered the garden, things seemed relatively peaceful. 

“…” I looked around, but didn’t see any trace of the Duke. 

“James?” I finally called out softly, but the only answer was silence.

_Something was wrong._

I decided to go back and check on Autumn, just as I turned around to go, however, I was confronted by William Savalle. Still wearing his formal black clothes from the party earlier, he now stood silently just a few feet away.

He smiled widely, an expression that didn’t reach his eyes. 

“Hello Katrina, I see you got my message.” I backed away a few steps, shaking my head. I thought back to the message I received. I had assumed it was James who sent the communication spell, since we frequently passed them back and forth. The voice in the message did sound similar, but it was too late to regret not recognizing it properly now. William stepped closer, his presence overwhelming me. I broke out in a cold sweat, frantically looking around to assess my escape routes. I had to get to Autumn! 

“I won’t let you take her!” I snarled, trying to jump past him. As I moved beyond him I felt a blow to the side of my neck, knocking me to the ground. 

As darkness overcame me, I heard him walk closer and stand over me.

“Foolish. Whatever made you think that my target was that girl?”


	10. The Rewrite in which I Strive to Find a Different Ending

I woke up sitting in an ice-cold room. My head was throbbing, my mouth was dry, and every inch of my body ached. I slowly tried to peel my heavy eyelids open, frustrated when all I could see were blank walls. 

_Where am I?_

Trying to straighten up, it became immediately apparent that I was tied up at my wrists and feet once more with physical restraint magic. I was unable to counter it, just like that last time at Savalle’s hideout. Which meant… I stiffened in place as I remembered the events before I was knocked unconscious. Groaning with embarrassment at how easily I had been tricked, I looked around, surprised when I saw Savalle sitting on a chair in the corner of the room. His posture was relaxed, the picture of a gentleman waiting for his afternoon tea rather than a villain staring at his kidnapping victim. Seeing my eyes open, he smiled humorlessly. 

“Welcome back. You woke up sooner than I thought you would.“

I stared at him, trying to put my scrambled thoughts into some semblance of order. 

“How long?” My voice was raspy, my throat burned with the words.  _Had I been screaming?_

“Only a few hours, not long at all.” His gaze slid down me and off to the side, as if remembering something pleasant. “You had quite a number of interesting poisons on you, dear. I killed four of my men just testing them out.” He looked back at me. “Don’t worry, I only used the slow acting one on you.”

Panicked, I took a brief inventory of my body. My clothes were seemingly undisturbed, but the weight of my blades were gone. I was disarmed. The black bonds of the restraint magic were uncomfortable and prevented easy movement, but not too tight to cut off circulation. I had a general ache throughout my body, a sore throat and a headache. I considered my symptoms, sighing uncomfortably. “Mirkroot.”

Savalle applauded. “Very good. It’s not often I meet someone with a wealth of knowledge of poisons similar to my own.” He leaned forward in his chair, studying me closely. “How interesting.”

“So what next, we wait the 3 hours or so I have left before the poison kills me?” I was scared. I didn’t want to die. 

He looked offended. “Of course not. After all, you went through all that trouble to bring the antidotes with you, just like any good poisoner.” He held up a light green bottle, one I recognized as the cure for the poison that was slowly killing me.  “I’m sure we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

“Go choke and die.” I was scared, not stupid. He would never let me go, not after I had seen his face. I had been lying to his people and trying to thwart his bid for the throne the entire time, he had to know he couldn’t trust me. 

“Such harsh words.” Despite me refusal, he looked excited. With a sinking feeling, I realized he was hoping I would resist. He stood up, walking closer and leaning down too stare into my eyes.  “But I’m not worried. I think I just have to find the right sort of leverage.” He studied my face closely, as if looking for an answer. “What will it take to break you?” he whispered. 

Ugh, why had I written such a creepy character? To be fair, I don’t think he was this bad in my book. Obsessed with the throne, yes. Willing to sacrifice other to achieve his goals, of course. But this sadistic, twisted shell of a human who’s only concern seemed to be to see the suffering of others… he was beyond what I had envisioned. Again this world had grown beyond me, leaving my poor imagination in the dust as the characters grew and changed on their own. 

Why couldn’t he have changed into a nice, forgiving character. I wondered grumpily. 

“You’re doing it again!” His hand gripped my chin in a painful grip, forcing me to look at him. For the first time he seemed truly irritated, a crack forming in his typical disturbing pleasant façade. “I hate it! That look on your face like you’re not a part of this. Like you’re watching a play with all of us as actors. It’s like you don’t consider us to be human at all. Like we’re…Like we’re…”

“Like you’re characters in a book?” I whispered.

His eyes widened with shock, his lips forming a snarl. 

“SHUT UP!”

Before I could react he swung a hand, striking my face and knocking me to the ground. I saw stars as my head cracked against the hard floor, but I grimly clung to my consciousness. The last time I passed out he poisoned me. I didn’t want to find out what he would do next. 

He stepped back, smoothing back his hair which had fallen out of place and with great patience, reformed his unconcerned expression. 

“How impolite of me. You’ll have to forgive my temper dear, I sometimes act before I think, you know?” He gently reached down, pulling me off the floor and sitting me upright again. “I would urge you not to anger me in the future. It’s bad for your health.”

Beginning to pace around the room, he would pause occasionally to glance at me, all the while talking to himself. “I can’t help but feel that you know something I don’t. That you are the key to me obtaining something greater than anything else I’ve ever imagined. More powerful even than the throne I was striving for.” He paused, looking at me closer. “But what could it be?” 

I shook my head, scared and defeated. “You might as well kill me. I have nothing for you. There is no value in you keeping me hostage, you might as well discard me.” 

“You sell yourself short.” He laughed, resuming his pacing once more. “You have plenty of value even outside your… unusual secrets. Tell me, why are you so eager to die?”  He seemed genuinely curious. 

“Even the most simple of living beings cherishes their own life. I am no different. If choosing between life and death I would certainly want to live. But what you don’t understand is that there are things in this world worth dying for.”

“Really, what is worth your life?”

I smiled. “I’ve had only two purposes over that last three years. Two reasons for every moment I’ve suffered, every lesson I’ve learned, every drop of tears and sweat that I’ve shed. And by kidnapping me, you’ve helped me achieve both.”

Surprised, he sat back down on the chair in the corner, resting his chin on his folded hands. 

“Well now you have to explain.”

“First, I wanted to protect Autumn from your grasp. She never should have to suffer at your hands. I’ve planted enough suspicion on you and your mother with both the Duke’s guard and the royal palace that with my kidnapping, you will never be free of guilt in their eyes again. You will never get close enough to hurt her.”

He inclined his head. “That may be true, it will be difficult to arrange her death or capture with my movements watched so closely.” Shrugging, he looked unconcerned. “She was only a means to an end anyways. My goal was always the throne.” His eyes widened, “Was your second reason to prevent me from obtaining the throne? I like the idea of being a part of your only reason for living.” I shuddered at his satisfied smirk, shaking my head no. 

“The second reason was to prevent someone from coming here for the ransom. You were meant to kill that person tonight. And now that you’ve chosen the wrong victim, no one will die at your hands but me.”

There was silence. 

“How… selfless of you, although rather misinformed.” Standing up, he moved next to the blank wall in front of me. “I suppose it would be easier to show you. I am proficient in external magic, as you have experienced yourself” He gestured towards the black bonds that held me in place. “But I also have a little talent in internal magic, at least enough for a viewing spell. Let’s have a look at what’s going on outside right now.”

A blue light collected on the wall, and I recognized the beginnings of a viewing portal spell forming. The light spread until it was the size of a large window, and then with a bright burst it became clear, as if there was a hole in the wall that led to a different place. I stared, shocked at the scene before me. One person was fighting against ten men, throwing magic and swinging a sword without rest. He was covered with minor wounds, but still pressed on despite the blood dripping down his arms. His face was tired, with a serious expression I knew all too well. 

James. 

“No.” I whispered. “This is an illusion. You’re trying to trick me.”

Savalle frowned. “Don’t be an idiot. Your expertise is in internal magic. You should be more than capable of distinguishing between a false image and a viewing spell.” 

He was right, I could feel the magical energy, and it wasn’t an illusion. Despite all my efforts, despite saving Autumn, he had still come to the place where he would die. “No. I don’t understand. Autumn is safe! Why did he come?” I didn’t realize I was talking out loud until he laughed delightedly. 

“Finally an honest reaction! As to why he’s here, well, I sent a ransom request. I was actually hoping for Lady Autumn or her men, someone I could use for more leverage, but as soon as the Duke heard of your plight he rushed right over here to save you. How wonderful.” His voice ended on a sneer, his eyes fixed on my terrified expression. 

I swallowed nervously. “Let him go; kill me instead.” 

“… So he is the person who’s life you wanted to save tonight. Not what I expected, to be honest.” He looked confused.

“You would sacrifice your life for this person?” 

I didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

“I don’t understand.” His face was distorting again, stalking closer to me, his whole body trembling with rage. I leaned backwards, but there was little I could do to get away. “You remain composed, aloof from all us mere mortals. You stare at me like a bug in a jar, like a broken doll that you don’t remember crafting. You sit apart from all of us like a judgmental deity but for HIM you throw away everything? What is he that you would have such eyes?! STOP LOOKING AT HIM!” 

He swung at me again; this time I felt the skin of my cheek split under the edge of his ring. Blood ran down my face as I stared at the floor, unable to pull myself up. Between the effects of the poison and the strict bonds on my arms and legs, I was trapped on the ground, not even able to look up at my enemy. I heard him walk away, muttering darkly to himself. 

“This cannot be. It’s a mistake, an error. I’ll kill him. That will make this right again. She’ll return to how she was, untouched by this world. I will be the one to break her. He must be erased. I’ll tear him apart, make him regret ruining this.” 

I wanted to cry, from pain, from exhaustion, from fear. I was trapped by a madman, listening to him plot to kill the man I loved. I was in the worst possible scenario, with no tricks left….

_Wait._

I focused on my wrist, lifting the spell I had cast earlier today. A red vial appeared, still attached securely to my wrist. The illusion spell had prevented it from being taken off me with my other weapons, although maintaining the spell for so long had nearly drained my magical energy. 

_It just might work._

I pressed my wrists together, cracking the vial between them. The red liquid ran down my arms, touching the bonds that tied my hands together. The bonds dissipated instantly, I quickly rubbed my wrists on my legs, dispersing those bonds as well. Then, with the last of my magic, I formed the illusion that my hands and feet were still tied. 

Savalle turned back towards me, seemingly having sensed my movements. “You did something. What did you do?” He looked me over suspiciously, but thankfully didn’t seem to notice the exchange of real bonds for illusionary ones.

“Do you want to know the secret of this world?” I asked him, keeping my face calm. 

“What?” He didn’t trust me, of course, but curiosity warring openly with the distrust on his face, he slowly made his way towards me. 

“The truth…” I whispered as softly as I dared, he leaned closer to be able to hear. I could see my knife tucked into his belt. 

“What is the truth?” He asked, his eyes filled with a obsessive need. 

I leapt forward, grabbing my knife and shoving it in his chest just to the left of his breastbone. His face pale, he crumbled to the ground, weakly clutching at my hands holding the knife. 

His eyes were wide with shock, his lips formed a single word, unable to force enough breath out to give volume to it:

HOW?

I laughed, a dark sound I hardly recognized as coming out of my own throat. “It’s called a deus ex machina, the author’s ultimate privilege.” I showed off my wrist, the red liquid now clearly visible. “A hidden vial of Autumn’s blood.”

Autumn the one being in the world who had the ability to cancel out magic. It had been a big deal in my original book, but was a characteristic often overlooked since I had arrived and she had stayed out of the spotlight. A drop of her blood was more than enough to dispel the magical bonds that held me, even with me being unable to counter external type magic. 

Savalle was trying to laugh, air and blood escaping around the knife in his chest. 

AUTHOR? He tried to ask one last question, but before his lips finished forming the word, the light in his eyes faded. As he died, a door appeared on the wall to my right, the illusion he had used to hide it fading with his passing. 

I struggled to my feet, trying to sort out my thoughts. Why did I hurt so much? Oh yeah, the poison. I patted down Savalle’s corpse, shuddering at the cooling form, until I pulled the green bottle from one of his many pockets. I tried to pull the stopper off, but to my frustration my arms and hands weren’t cooperating. Between the severe depletion of my magic, the effects of the poison and blows to the head I had taken, I was barely able to stand. Keeping the bottle grasped tightly in one hand, a knife in the other, I pushed open the door and left the room. My vision was slowly being invaded by darkness. 

_Where should I go now?_

I stumbled out, confused. A man with a sword, his mask and clothing marking him as one of Savalle’s henchman, ran towards me weapon raised. I closed my eyes, too tired to struggle. 

BAM! The man was struck my magical flames, and collapsed to the ground at my feet. I stared at the body in confusion, my mind numb. 

“KATRINA!” A familiar voice called my name. I looked up to see the man that I loved racing towards me, reaching out. I smiled and lifted a hand. 

“James.”  Before I could touch him, darkness swallowed me whole.


	11. Always a Little Too Late (James’s POV)

“James…”

I heard her voice call out my name before her eyes rolled up and she fell unconscious to the ground. My heart stopped and I ran forward, catching her head before it could strike the hard floor. Holding her in my arms, I anxiously scanned her for signs of life. I pressed my fingers to her neck, relieved to feel a strong pulse and her warm breath on the back of my hand. 

_Why had she passed out though?_

I patted her cheeks, trying to wake her, desperately suppressing the panic growing in my heart. 

“Katrina! Are you ok?”

Her eyes fluttered opened, her gaze vague and unfocused for a few moments before training intently on my face. Once she recognized me, she broke into a bright smile, causing my breath to catch in my chest. Even dirty bloody and injured she was heartstoppingly beautiful.

I couldn’t let myself be distracted. “Where are you hurt?” Looking her over again, I noted the cut on her cheek and the bruising around her eye. He had struck her. While she was alone and at his mercy, in a place I couldn’t reach, he had laid his filthy hands on her. 

_I’m going to kill him._

She lifted up a hand giving me a light green bottle. “I’ve… poisoned.”

“Is this the poison?” 

She shook her head no. 

“The antidote?”

She nodded. 

I opened the bottle, realizing the issue. The stopper was wedged in; it required quite a bit of force to pry it open. As weak as she was now, she would never be able to get to it. I held the open bottle to her lips holding up her head to help her drink it without choking. She swallowed it without complaint, simply reaching out to touch my face with a bloodied hand. 

“Thank you.”

“Savalle poisoned you?” My vision went red with blind rage. Death was too good for the bastard. “Where is he?” 

A light gesture indicated the room behind her. I leaned over looking through the doorway, somehow unsurprised to see him dead on the floor with a knife in his chest. Once again I was too late. I tightened my fists until my knuckles were bright white, having no outlet to vent my rage on. I felt utterly useless. As I was trapped in this depressing line of thought, her words brought me back out. 

“James, thank you for coming.” She whispered to me with a tired smile, “You saved me.” With that she fell asleep, looking much more comfortable now that the poison in her system had been counteracted. I stared at her face, unable to hide a tender expression as I held her close.

Why was it only with her that I always was a little too late?

Just a few years ago my heart was much calmer. Coron and I were both well born, talented, destined for greatness. With everyone around us plotting to use us or destroy us, we quickly adapted to the toxic environment that was the Royal Court, planning how to best assure his ascent to the throne. Plots within plots, we could only trust each other. 

When it came time for us to select Coron’s future wife, we disagreed on the criteria to use for the selection. The prince’s head was filled with romantic notions of falling in love and having a happy marriage. I had a more realistic approach, his wife would be queen, a political power, someone who could either help us with our goals, or weigh us down. It was important to make a rational choice. 

As for me? Although it was deemed almost as important that I take a wife to continue the Harrington line, I had very little interest. She would be from a good family, well-mannered and quiet. As long as she stayed out of my way and didn’t embarrass the family name, I had very little requirements. 

Coron saw portrait miniature the girl Autumn and thought she was beautiful, he added her to the top of our candidate list. I saw her background and reputation, as well as her possibly useful magical cancelling ability, thought she was suitable, and didn’t argue. We decided to attend her coming of age party to make our final decision. 

It was while I was investigating Autumn that I came across disturbing rumors about her lady’s maid. 

The youngest daughter of a Baron, her name was Katrina and her reputation was abysmal. Lazy, stupid, power-hungry, it was the general consensus that her family sent her away in hopes of not having to deal with her. As a potential source of embarrassment to the prince, I made a mental note to keep an eye out for her at the party. 

It didn’t take long for me to get worried. 

A few minutes into the party, she spitefully knocked the prince’s present out of her mistress’s hands and had the gall to pretend like it was an accident. Of course I mocked her for it; she deserved nothing less in my opinion. I expected her to cry and pout at my words. Instead she tilted her head, staring at me with a distant look as though I hadn’t insulted her, as if she was just a spectator.

It made me very uncomfortable.

I then caught her trying to sneak towards the prince’s carriages after the party. Used to fending off such women on a regular basis, I rebuffed her, not bothering to be polite about it. Again, I thought she would at least get angry.

But then she smiled, the expression causing an inexplicable tightness in my chest. 

She calmly told me off, leaving no room to argue. Then she let me know that due to Autumn’s allergy, her actions had prevented us from accidentally killing her.

After that encounter I was confused, irritated. I was not used to being wrong, but every action that girl did defied every expectation. She had caught my attention and I found myself obsessively trying to sort out my opinion of her. Could all those rumors be wrong? Was she just putting up a front? I thought of her calm in the face of ridicule and couldn’t reconcile it to the foolish shallow girl I had heard about. 

When Coron selected Lady Autumn to be his future wife, I didn’t have the heart to argue with him, she met my requirements, after all. My confusion on what kind of person her maid truly was could not be considered a valid objection. 

After the announcement, Coron sent me to help train Lady Autumn to adapt to life in the Royal Court. I was shocked to realize I was more nervous about meeting her maid then interacting with her mistress. I almost hoped that I was wrong and she was a simple shallow character. It would be easier to settle my mind about her. 

Instead, upon meeting her again, I found that the truth was even worse than I feared. No matter the subject: cooking, etiquette, management, pharmacology, she was well learned and respected in all of them, not to mention helpful and patient with all who approached her for advice. I watched her spar with a man twice her size and had to admit that without magic, I wouldn’t be able to defeat her. I offered my sincere apology, casting away any remnants of how I had viewed her before. 

I offered her a favor, which was something I very rarely did. I did not like to place myself at a disadvantage by owing someone else, but in the end after I had treated her, I felt this was the least I could do. I couldn’t dare predict how she would react, but even with the promise of a duke her eyes didn’t light up with greed. She instead made a simple request: to learn magic.

What followed were some of the most pleasant days I had ever experienced. Katrina was intelligent, talented. She had no aptitude for external type magic but in internal she was unstoppable. Grasping concepts much faster than I anticipated, she would eagerly ask me to move onto the next topic, her eyes sparkling with interest. I soon found myself spending my nights researching into new concepts and spells, not wanting to run out of material. I told myself it was to fulfill the favor I owed her. Deep down I knew it was because I didn’t want to lose the time we spent together. My feelings were changing so slowly I didn’t noticed until I was in too far.

Then came the night that Savalle’s people grabbed Katrina. I never even noticed, sleeping comfortably in my bed, until she showed up in my room, pale with fear. As she described how they drugged her and took her away, a terror took root deep in my heart. Without me even realizing it, she could have died. Far from my reach, men dressed as bandits had broken into her room and hurt her.  I gently touched a hand to the bruise on her neck, the mark seeming to mock me for my inability to protect her. 

Slowly, terror was replaced with rage. They had touched her. They had hurt her. 

_I was going to kill them._

I waited for her to leave that night, then quickly set out to find them. They had gotten a head start after dropping her off, but with my magically enhanced speed I quickly caught up to them. The night descended into a hell of magical flames and terrified screams until I was the only one left standing. 

I couldn’t hide from what I felt about her. I promised myself that night that I would stay by her side, protect her. 

Of course things did not go as planned. They never did, when she was involved. 

Katrina had a lot of strengths, she was intelligent, talented, hard working. But she was not perfect, and had one fault in particular that drove me crazy: once she got an idea in her head, it was almost impossible to change her mind. This wouldn’t be so bad if the foolish girl hadn’t decided for no apparent reason at all that I was in love with Lady Autumn. 

I couldn’t understand it. When had I ever even looked fondly on my friend’s fiancé? She was a nice enough girl, but I certainly had no romantic interest. In fact, our only common point, besides Coron, was how much we both cared about Katrina. If anything, this was a point of contention between us, as we got strangely competitive about monopolizing her time. But somehow the girl had come to the strange conclusion that I was harboring secret affections for Lady Autumn. It was terribly frustrating. She would give me sympathetic glances, patting me on the shoulder and letting me know she was “cheering for me.” What man wanted to be told that by the woman he loved? 

It wasn’t like I was hiding my feelings either. I called her by her first name only, held her hand, spent every free moment with her… and still she assumed it was so I could catch a glimpse of her friend! 

It was a very difficult time. 

After the exasperating girl poisoned herself, then secretly took out 3 assassins, she had the gall to ask me to denounce her in front of the crowd and avoid her. Filled with anger at further evidence that I had been too late to protect her, I agreed without carefully thinking it through. I figured if I hung in the background I could keep closer tabs on her. This time I was determined to keep her safe. I wouldn’t be too late again.

I investigated into the assassins and it became clear that all the suspicions pointed towards the Savalle family. Now Duchess Savalle was the head, and seemed to be in charge, but I uneasily remembered the face Katrina made when she told me about William Savalle, saying that he scared her. I assigned guards to follow Katrina at all times, taking shifts myself whenever I was free from work. 

“He’s back again, Your Grace.” One of my men commented after a few days of watching her.

A man with dark hair and eyes, following her around as she happily went about her day to day schemes of pretending to harass Lady Autumn. He stared at her with an obsessed light in his eyes, one that made me very worried. It was William Savalle, the man that had frightened her. I wanted to beat him up, arrest him, anything to keep him away from her, looking at her like she was his possession. But I  had no evidence, and since we were technically from families of similar levels of prestige, I could not accuse him easily. 

Thus a strange parade formed, as we all followed Katrina around the castle without her knowledge.

Katrina had warned me about the prince’s birthday, refusing to be too detailed but trying to make me promise not to leave the castle grounds no matter what. She told my men that Lady Autumn might be kidnapped, although she had taken many precautions to prevent it. She often made statements like this, speaking with absolute confidence as if she had seen the future. The fact that she was proven right most of the time was irritating, but this time I had my doubts. William seemed to have very little interest in Lady Autumn at all. In fact, if anyone was in danger, it was the girl I was desperately trying to protect.

When Lady Autumn came to us about her plan to bring Katrina to the Prince’s birthday party, at first I was against it. Wasn’t that the day that silly girl kept muttering about the “canon ending’ that she had to stop at all costs? But Autumn went on and on about how hard Katrina had been working and how much she had sacrificed and how it would make her happy. And to be honest she could have led with that final reason. Especially now that I was being told to avoid her, I was weak to suggestion of anything that would make her happy. 

Once I was convinced, Coron didn’t dare disagree. Lady Autumn cheered and immediately started preparations. I pulled her aside and handed her an envelope. 

“Use this and buy the best dress possible for her. Make this a night to remember.” 

She looked uncomfortable. “It’s not really proper for you to buy her a dress.”

“Oh well,” I shrugged, “I guess I’ll just have to convince her to marry me, then propriety won’t matter.”

Her face was priceless. “James Harrington, you better not steal my best friend!” She paused, “I guess, after I’m married I’ll consent to you marrying her. But you better tell her your feelings properly, idiot!” She poked my chest, “No more of this beating around the bush, trying to be close so she’ll gradually notice your feelings nonsense! She is dense as a rock when it comes to romance. You are going to have to be very blunt.” 

I stared at her as she scolded me in shock, was she always this kind of person? I had thought she was a quiet, reserved woman. But at least she took the money. For the first time I was really looking forward to a party.

She was stunning. 

I was entranced, unable to look away. She stood off to the side, dressed up in a blue ball gown that gave off a noble, refined appearance. She looked like a Duchess. I just needed to convince her to actually become one now. With a smile, I headed in her direction, rehearsing in my head what I was going to say to her. Autumn was right, I needed to be blunt and straight out tell her my feelings.  I saw Savalle walking towards her and I spitefully cut in front of him, asking her to dance.

The reality of the dance was much different than how I pictured it going in my head. It was uncomfortable, tense and awkward for both of us. Despite desperately wanting to say something,  _anything_ , I stiffly danced with her in silence, hating every minute of it. She solemnly watched me, looking sad. I could see Savalle watching us closely, he was going to cut in for the next dance. She didn’t know he had been following her. With no time left, I sent her a quick warning via communication spell, hoping she would be on her guard. 

 Watching them dance together caused my chest to hurt. He was smiling, she looked frightened. I clenched my fists, wanting desperately to jump in and tear him off of her, holding on to my polite mask by a thread. When the song ended she turned and ran out, never glancing behind her. Savalle made as though to follow and my control snapped. I grasped his arm, putting enough strength into my grip that I heard the bone creak underneath my hand.

“Leave her alone.” 

He must have been hurting, but it didn’t show on his face. Instead he smiled, the expression creeping me out. “You shouldn’t stop me, you should be helping me. After all, I think we both desire the same thing.”

“I doubt that.” I frowned, releasing his arm.

“Don’t you want to bring her down to the level of us mere mortals too, Your Grace?“ He leaned in, a fanatical expression painting his features. “You feel it too, I bet. That sense that she’s just watching us, not really participating. When she looks at you, do you ever notice that sometimes she’s looking through you, as if she knows everything and you know nothing?”

“How she looks is not your concern, leave her alone.” I kept my voice stern, carefully not reacting to his words. He was right, I had noticed her strange quirks. She talked to herself about “the plot” Sometimes she talked about herself as if “Katrina” was a completely separate entity from her, especially when talking about her past. She always seemed to be just looking past me to a bigger picture, and that terrified me. I wanted, needed her to see me. To be a part of this world. But even my worst fears and insecurities would not drive me to work together with this scum. I would bring her to my side my own way. 

I would protect her. I wouldn’t be too late next time.

The vow had barely left my lips before it was broken.

My men lost Savalle after he left the party. I spent a few hours checking all his well known hiding spots, to no avail. I was coming back to check on Katrina, but instead I found Autumn crying and clutching a ransom note. Savalle had taken her.

 Autumn tried to tell me to wait for backup, but seeing my face immediately backed down. “Go. Save her.” She smiled through her tears. “Get her back safely and I may even approve of you as a candidate to be Katrina’s husband.”

I didn’t hesitate; I made my way to the indicated location in the letter.

I’m not sure how many of Savalle’s henchmen were waiting for me when I arrived. It didn’t matter. They were between me and rescuing the woman I loved. They were dead from the moment they decided to hinder me. I lost myself to the rhythm of the battle, and soon there was no one left to kill. I finally made it, only to find Savalle dead, and Katrina poisoned. Fortunately, I was in time to give her the antidote, or I might have lost her.

I broke from my reverie, staring down at her sleeping form. There was no use pretending, no room to be vague or indirect anymore.  

“I can’t be a stranger anymore, sorry, no matter what kinds of schemes you have. I’m sorry I was late again, I’ll stay by your side for the rest of my life to make it up to you. So please, don’t push me away again.” I hugged her tightly, whispering in her ear.

“I love you. Marry me?”


	12. The Rewrite in which my Story Gets a “Happily Ever After”

“Marry me?” 

I heard a voice whisper in my ears as I drifted in and out of consciousness. Was I hallucinating? Did I want to hear those words from James so much that my brain was having him propose to me in my sleep? I opened my eyes, the first sight that greeted me was the tired and drawn face of Duke Harrington. He held me closely in his arms, and for the first time in a long time I felt safe. Before he could notice I had woken up, I closed my eyes again, my mind racing. 

Had I heard correctly? If I had, what would I say? 

I fell back asleep shortly, stress and exhaustion taking over my body.

When I woke up, my body felt refreshed but my mental state was confused and overwhelmed. I quickly got dressed and headed out, trying to sort out my thoughts. 

“Miss Katrina!” A voice called out to me. It was Captain Alexander, he strode up to me, a nervous smile on his face. 

“Captain.”

“I’m so glad you’re okay! When I heard what happened…” He paused, his face red from shame. “I’m sorry I…we didn’t protect you.” He bowed his head. 

“It’s not your fault, I made my own decisions.” I wasn’t sure how else to comfort him.

“It is my fault, you should have never been in danger.” His intense stare made me a little uncomfortable. I remembered his attitude towards me the past few years, the blushes and meaningful glances. I was grateful for his help with learning to fight, but never had encouraged a relationship beyond what I shared with the other guardsmen. 

In the past I had always comforted myself that he was going to find his true love soon, but now…

I had been wrong about so many things. About the kidnapping, about Savalle… 

About James. 

My predictions were worthless, who knew if the two would ever meet, or even if they did if they would fall in love like they did in the book? I felt lost and confused and could only look at him helplessly. 

I can’t promise him a future with a woman he may never even meet. 

Seeing my sad gaze, he seemed to misinterpret something and his face grew serious. 

“I’ve heard… I heart that Duke Harrington was able to rescue you?”

I nodded in reply. 

“Good.” He seemed satisfied. “At least if I am to lose to someone, it’s someone who is worthy of you.

“…” I felt like I should deny it, but in the end, I stayed silent. 

He smiled, and if it was a little bit of a sad smile, neither of us mentioned it. 

I left the capital, borrowing a horse from one of the guards. I needed to get away from everyone, think about things carefully. Since I arrived here as Katrina, I had only focused on changing the ending of the story. Autumn’s kidnapping, James’s death, I had spent every waking moment trying to prevent these from happening. 

I had been so focused, I had never thought about what would come after that. 

_Marry me._

Those two words he whispered in my ear made me realize: even after four years I had never considered myself as truly living in this world. I had taken on the role of an active spectator, watching from the sidelines and only interfering enough to change the ending. I had never thought through spending the rest of my life with the people here. The story was done, the book was over, but life kept going. 

I stared around at the scenery, this far out away from the capital the surrounding areas gradually changed to farmland. Here and there men, women and animals could be seen, tending the fields. This world was massive, far beyond the limits of my poor little imagination. 

_Could I really say with confidence that I had written this world?_

“Miss! Can you help us?!” Several young girls ran in front of my horse, shouting with fear, their faces pale.  I jumped down immediately, concerned. 

“What’s wrong?”

They brought me to a nearby well, a little girl, not much older than 3 or four years old, had fallen in chasing after a dog. The dog had leapt the opening, sitting safely on the side, but the girl has splashed into the water below. Thankfully, she had grasped onto the bucket and ropeand was able to hold on and not sink. Her face was wet with well water and tears, her lips blue. 

“Hold onto the bucket!” I called out. Together with the other girls, we pulled the rope up, grabbing the girl as she reached the edge. They cried with relief thanking me. I wrapped her up in my shawl, bringing them all back to their parents. Grabbing my hands tightly, they shook their heads and whispered over and over their gratitude. It took some fast talking and accepting two loaves of bread to finally extricate myself from them. 

It was starting to get late, I slowly turned my horse towards the capital, towards home. 

_Home?_

I felt like I had been struck by a bolt of lightning. 

_Was this place my home?_

I thought about those girls and their parents; they were never characters in my book. Where did they come from? I thought about how different people were from my one-dimensional descriptions of them on paper. Of how they had little details I never knew about: Autumn’s peanut allergy, James’ dislike of salty foods. Silly things, important things, millions of little details that I never wrote in.

I had always assumed this world came from the story I wrote. 

_But what if the story I wrote came from this already existing world?_

I felt myself relax a bit, a previously existing weight sliding off my shoulders. my role was never to be the arbiter of fate or a deity, I was living in this world just like everyone else, just with the knowledge of one possible future in my head, and that future hadn’t even come about. 

I urged my horse to go faster, my heartbeat picking up. It was time I gave this world a real chance. Which meant I had someone I need to find. 

I had a Duke I needed to confess my love to before he changed his mind. 

I sent a communication spell as soon as I got back.

immediately he sent back a reply, and we met in the garden.

The sun was setting, but between the light left in the sky and the scattered magical lamps in the garden I could see him clearly. He was staring at me, his expression serious. 

“Is everything ok? Have you recovered?”

Faced with the full weight of his concern I couldn’t help but smile. “I’m fine, I promise.”

James looked stunned for a few moments, then smiled back, the expression lighting up his entire face. “You seem… different. What happened?”

Stepping closer, I closed the small gap between us into negligible distance. 

“I guess you could say I’ve realized some important things. My goals have moved passed simply getting by, at least. I’m here to stay.”

Our eyes met and held, he reached out and gently touched my face with one hand. 

“Thank goodness.” He said, sighing with relief, “You’re finally looking at me.” The last sentence was mumbled, barely audible. 

I couldn’t hold back anymore. “By the way, my answer is ‘yes.’” 

“Yes? To what?”

Coughing uncomfortably, I desperately hoped he hadn’t forgotten. “Umm… your question, yesterday?”

His lips formed the words “my question” even as his face held a confused expression. I waited patiently.

Finally, his face lit up and he blushed “You heard that?” His eyes widened in shock, “Wait if you heard it… and your answer is yes…” 

I couldn’t help but laugh, “Unless you don’t want to marry me anymore?” 

“That’s…” he reached forward, pulling me into his arms. I felt the soft pressure of his lips against mine before he whispered: “Katrina, I love you. Will you really marry me?”

“Don’t believe me?”

“Please say it again!”

I sighed, but the irritation was faked. “Yes, I will marry you, James .” I hesitated for a moment, feeling a small amount of heat building in my face as I mumbled, “I love you too.”

I was spun around, several more kisses given in the excitement. Once he came up for air, I felt myself lifted off the ground into his arms. “Ahh where are we going?.” 

The look he shot me clearly stated “don’t be an idiot.” 

“We’re going to get married.”

And he was looking at me like I was crazy?! I hit his arm. 

“Put me down! It’s nighttime, no one will marry us until daylight. Even that’s a little over the top.”

He paused, looking genuinely upset. “I feel like I should tie the knot now, before you have a chance to get into any more trouble without me.”

I kissed him lightly. “I promise to bring you with me. Now put me down.”

“Fine. But let’s still get married as soon as possible, just to be safe.”

This was the man I had once described as cold, and guarded with his feelings? I took his hand in my own, we smiled foolishly at one another. I couldn’t be happier.

It wasn’t quite a “happily ever after.” After all, that was for stories and this was a real world, but now I was no longer dreading a single day, but looking forward to a lifetime next to the one I loved. And that for me was the perfect ending: the beginning to the rest of my life.

 


	13. Epilogue - A Total Rewrite

Rachel, long time editor and friend to authors, let herself into the empty apartment, looking around sadly. 

“You really had to go and get hit by a car right before you finished your last book?” She laughed, a lonely sound in the dark living space. “I bet that pissed you off. You were so excited about the ending.” 

Looking around, she couldn’t help but slump a little. She knew the manuscript wasn’t finished, otherwise she would have gotten the celebratory text. That left her with the headache of publishing an unfinished book or asking someone else to contribute. 

_Maybe I’ll luck out and she was almost completely done._

She turned a corner into the office and stopped with a gasp. She couldn’t help the dramatic reaction, however, the sight greeting her was truly shocking!

A thick finished manuscript sat on the desk, much thicker than she expected for just the final installment. On it was a sticky note that simply read, “true ending”

_Had she actually finished it before she got hit by that car?_

Unable to contain her excitement, Rachel lifted the manuscript and began to sift through it. To her surprise, it was not just a final book. It was the entire story rewritten! This time instead of Autumn, the main character was Katrina, one of the less popular antagonist characters. Katrina underwent a major overhaul, became an overpowered character, saved Autumn, and married the Duke. It was so different from the original story! 

Frowning, Rachel considered her options. The books already released were popular, she could throw together an ending with an experienced author and it probably would sell well… or…

She looked again at the manuscript before her. Who was she kidding, it wasn’t even a hard decision. She picked up the papers, storing them in her briefcase, and headed for the office.

“We’ll give the world the story you wanted to tell. I hope you’re happy.”

She picked up her phone, making a quick call.

“Frank, meet me at the office. No, it’s not about the last book, that doesn’t matter anymore. Not after what we’re about to release.” She grinned. 

“A total rewrite.”


End file.
